


The Prodigals

by Florence_in_Silver



Series: Calendar [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Vampires, episode rewrites, rewrites, some strong language, vampire, vampire jenny calendar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-07-29 05:23:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 29,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16257539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florence_in_Silver/pseuds/Florence_in_Silver
Summary: After being forced to kill Angel, Buffy ran to Los Angeles. She soon discovers, however, that she is not the only lost soul in the city.Sequel to "Cold", which was my rewrite of the end of season 2. This is the rewrite of season 3. This follows the main points of canon, but some things are altered - mostly Jenny Calendar is a vampire.





	1. Anne

**Author's Note:**

> Some dialogue is taken directly from the episodes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wrote this while re-watching Buffy season 3. I followed along with the basic plot of the episodes, but changed some stuff (mostly vampire Jenny being around). I didn't want to re-write the entire episode, just the parts I've changed, so I'll put a little episode summary at the start of each chapter. 
> 
> Summary: After killing Angel, Buffy is living in LA, using her middle name "Anne" and working in a diner. She runs into Lily (formerly called Chanterelle, from the episode "Lie to Me") and her boyfriend Rickie. Lily recognizes Buffy and seeks out her help when Rickie goes missing. It turns out that Rickie was kidnapped by demons and taken to another dimension to work as a slave. Buffy and Lily fall through a portal into the demon dimension, kick some ass, and help all the slaves escape.

Tom Franklin was just about to close up the shop when his strangest regular came in, ringing the bell over the door. She was about his son’s age and pretty, with black hair and black eyes. She was a little too thin, but every woman in Los Angeles was. And every week, just before closing, she bought a pint of pig’s blood from the shop.

“I was just about to lock up. You want the usual?” he asked her.

She nodded, pulling out a wallet from her purse. He went into the back to fill up the cup of blood. It wasn’t technically legal to sell animal blood, but he didn’t mind meeting the demand if it brought him a few extra dollars. And there seemed to be quite a market for it. He taped a lid on the plastic cup and brought it back to the front for her.

“So what are you making with this?” he asked her.

“Sângerete, it’s a blood sausage,” she said.

“Yeah, from Romania. That where you’re from?”

“My family,” she said. She handed over the cash to him and took the blood, before fading away into the neon lights and traffic sounds of the city.

***

Jenny wanted to pop the lid off and drink the blood straight out of the cup, but she restrained herself. It was cold, right out of the butcher’s fridge. She would wait until she got back to the apartment and could warm it up in the microwave. Besides, it probably wouldn’t be good to get caught drinking raw pig’s blood in the middle of the street.

The butcher’s shop and the apartment were in adjacent run-down neighborhoods. On her walk between the two, she always passed a park where the homeless kids tended to hang out. Though recently she hadn’t been seeing as many kids, and more older adults, muttering to themselves. She passed one of them, a gray haired woman with her arms wrapped around her chest.

“I’m no one. I’m no one,” said the woman.

Jenny kept walking. She got to the apartment building, checked the mail, and climbed up the dimly lit staircase. She could hear one of the neighbors blasting techno music.

Inside her apartment, she switched on the kitchen light and dropped the mail on the table. It was just bills and promotions, nothing personal. She spotted a piece of paper already lying on the table and picked it up. It read, “Come home to Family Home,” and had a little drawing of people hugging.

“You’re home,” said a voice. Jenny looked up to see Buffy, already in her pajamas, come into the kitchen. It was just past eight pm, but Buffy did have to get up brutally early to go work at the diner.

“Yeah, I just went out to get some dinner,” Jenny said, lifting her cup of blood.

“A man gave that to me on my way home from work,” said Buffy, pointing to the leaflet.

“The cult guy with the bad hair?” Jenny asked.

“That’s the one. His name’s Ken.”

“He smells bad.”

Buffy nodded a little.

“I ran into someone who knew me today,” Buffy said.

Jenny tried to keep her face impassive and said, “Really?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know her. She was a vampire groupie. But of course that all changed when she met a vampire for the first time.”

Buffy looked at Jenny and winced, realizing she may have insulted her. But Jenny just shrugged.

“Did you eat dinner?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah, I had a granola bar.”

“I’ll make you something.” Jenny had never been the greatest cook in the world, but now that she couldn’t eat real food she found herself missing it. And Buffy wasn’t too picky.

“Thanks, Jenny.”

“You’re welcome, Anne.” She had to remind herself that Buffy wasn’t Buffy in LA; she was Anne. Jenny wasn’t really Jenny either, so it worked out. They were just two fake lives, wishing the world would leave them alone.

***

The physical wounds from Angelus had healed quickly - remarkably so, almost inhumanly so in Giles’ case - but the emotional wounds, those would take some time. The end of the previous school year had been like a barrage of tragedy, one right after the other. Angel lost his soul. He turned Jenny into a vampire. Kendra died. Angel tortured Giles. Buffy killed Angel. She left. She and Jenny never came home.

Buffy’s absence at the first day of school dropped the spirits of every member of the Scooby gang. They didn’t realize that they were all holding on to the slightest shred of hope that she would show up and somehow that would make everything ok. They had coped over the summer, but coping was about all they could achieve. The kids had taken over patrolling and had become quite competent at it. They worried Giles, more than he could say. He didn’t think he could bear it if anything happened to any of them, even Xander. But all he could do was tell them again to be careful.

They’d had a memorial for Kendra early on the summer. Her body was sent home to Jamaica, but they wanted to honor her in Sunnydale, as well. She hadn’t been in their lives for long, but in just a short time she had proven how brave she was. And she died far too young.

Then Jenny had not returned when they at last managed to find an Orb of Thesulah and perform the ritual for her. They had used her real name, Janna Cervenak, and everything. Giles said that he thought she must have died in the mansion fight and had retreated to his house, not answering their calls for two days.

Now summer was over, and Buffy was still gone. Giles was following false lead after false lead, trying to find her, though as Xander put it, “he’ll find her when she wants to be found.” And she obviously did not.

***

Jenny ducked into the condemned building, following close behind Buffy. It was a common shelter for the homeless, being more protected than just being out on the street. Lily, the former vampire groupie from Buffy’s past, had lost her boyfriend Rickie, so Buffy and Jenny were searching for him at all the haunts where lost kids tended to end up. They had checked the nearby parks and shelters, and now they were searching the abandoned buildings. The boyfriend in question was a young, dark-haired man, but most of the people in this place looked at least over sixty. Buffy and Jenny went quietly down the hall and rounded the corner. Tucked away behind some rubble lay an old man with a bottle of drain cleaner by his head. Buffy went over and checked the pulse on his wrist, shaking her head when she couldn’t find it. Then she stopped, turning his arm a little to look at a red tattoo on his forearm. Jenny leaned forward to get a better look at it. It was half a heart, with the world “Lily” written within.

“Rickie?” said Buffy.

***

Buffy had let Lily wait for them in their apartment. When they entered, Lily practically leapt toward them, asking if they had found Rickie and offering more suggestions about where he might be.

“Lily, I think he’s dead,” said Buffy. Lily stopped moving.

“But…he can’t be. H-he takes care of me,” Lily said.

“I’m sorry,” said Jenny.

“We were gonna get a place. His cousin can get him a job at a car wash.”

“Lily, there’s something else. Th-the person I found was old. He looked about eighty,” said Buffy.

“Well, that’s not Rickie.” There was so much hope in Lily’s voice.

“I’m sure it was. He had the tattoo. But it was like something had drained the life out of him,” said Buffy.

“Do you mean like a vampire?” Lily asked.

“No,” said Jenny quickly. They thought it was best not to tell Lily what Jenny really was. Instead they had said that she was Buffy’s older cousin.

“Vampires don’t accelerate the aging process,” Buffy explained.

“I don’t understand. Maybe it’s not Ricky.”

“Lily, this is something you’re just going to have to deal with,” Buffy snapped.

“Buffy,” said Jenny.

“But he didn’t do anything wrong. Why did this happen to him?” asked Lily, growing more frantic. Jenny wondered if she should go comfort the girl, but then Lily turned to Buffy and asked, “Is it because of you?”

Buffy froze.

“You know about monsters and stuff. You could have brought this with you,” Lily said.

Jenny stepped forward, pushing herself between Buffy and the girl.

“She didn’t bring anything with her. We were just trying to help you. Now, I think it’s time for you to leave,” Jenny said, taking Lily by the arm and leading her to the door of the apartment. Once the girl was gone, she turned back to Buffy.

“It isn’t, you know? It’s not your fault,” said Jenny. Buffy looked at her and then rubbed at her nose, blinking hard. Jenny pretended not to notice.

“We, uh, we should try to figure out what is causing this,” said Buffy.

“Of course,” said Jenny.

They broke into the blood bank that Buffy had visited earlier that day with Lily. Buffy went to check the files in the main room and Jenny went to explore the back rooms. There were a few offices with nothing too interesting in them and a storeroom with the refrigerators of blood. Jenny opened one and took out a blood bag. The label read O positive. Her favorite had been B positive, but she liked O blood, too. She wondered if Buffy would be mad, but she still slipped the bag into her purse. She found two B bags and put them in, as well.

“What are you doing?” she heard from the other room. It wasn’t Buffy’s voice.

“Breaking into your office and going through your private files. Candidate for what?” came Buffy’s reply. Jenny slowly crept out from the back rooms, coming around behind a woman in a lab coat. Buffy had her back turned to both of them as she continued rummaging through the files.

“I’m calling the police,” said the woman, a nurse probably.

Buffy reached up and ripped the phone off the wall. Jenny moved up closer behind the nurse.

“Now, you’ve got a whole bunch of candidates here. I wonder if any of them are missing like Rickie. Gosh, I bet they are,” said Buffy turning around. She caught sight of Jenny and smiled a little.

“You’re getting yourself into a lot of trouble,” said the nurse.

“You should talk,” said Buffy, nodding toward Jenny. The nurse turned and saw Jenny’s vamp face. She shrieked and Jenny grabbed her to keep her from running, growling a little. Buffy walked calmly over to them.

“What are you doing with these kids?” she asked.

“Nothing. I just give them the names of the healthy ones,” said the nurse.

“Give them to who?” asked Buffy.

“To whom,” said Jenny. Buffy gave her a look and Jenny shrugged. She still had her teacher moments. Or maybe Rupert had rubbed off on her. No, she didn’t want to think about him right now.

“Family Home,” said the nurse. They were familiar with the name.

“Cult guy with the bad hair,” said Buffy.

Jenny released the trembling nurse and she and Buffy ran out the door. It didn’t take long for them to reach the place, as it was just a few blocks from the blood bank. Jenny, though youthful, could no longer pass as a teenager, so she waited outside while Buffy went in. She could hear Buffy muddle her way through a speech about wanting to get away from sin.

“Oh, I just suck at undercover,” Buffy said and whistled. Jenny ran inside where two men were facing Buffy. Jenny knocked one to the ground and Buffy pinned the other to the wall.

“Where’s Ken?” Buffy asked.

The man pointed down a hallway. Buffy slammed his head against the wall to knock him out.

“I’ll get Lily. You see if there are any others,” said Buffy, before taking off down the hall. Jenny ran the other way. She ran into another man, one who seemed a little more ready to fight. He swung at her head, but she ducked and socked him in the jaw. His skin wrinkled where she had hit him, like it was sliding out of place. She hit him again, in the eye this time. A flap of skin flopped down over his eye so he couldn’t see. He reached up and ripped the skin off his face, revealing a scabby and slimy demon face.

“Half-breed,” he snarled at her. She drove the heel of her hand into his nose and kicked him hard between the legs. He went down. Jenny liked the fancy moves that Buffy had taught her, but there was something satisfying about a classic kick to the nuts.

There was a scream from the direction where Buffy had gone. Jenny turned and ran towards the sound. She went into the room where it had come from, finding it empty. The room was made of stone and in the center was a little pool filled with what looked like black oil. Jenny moved forward to get a better look when a hand burst out of the pool. The hand looked human enough, so Jenny grabbed it and pulled up a skinny, dirty girl. Not a pool, then, a portal. She moved the girl gently to the side, just as another hand came through. This one was a young man, though just as scrawny. They kept coming, over a dozen people, including Lily, until at last Buffy’s blonde head emerged from the portal.

“What do we do about-” Lily began, pointing to the portal, but before she could finish, the oily substance was covered over in tiles that matched the sides of the pool.

“That was quick,” said Jenny.

“Time moved faster in that dimension. We were there for a few hours,” said Buffy.

“Naturally,” said Jenny, a little bewildered.

***

Jenny waited in the rental car for Buffy to say goodbye to Lily. The sun had just set, so they had plenty of time to make the drive before daylight. Jenny fidgeted nervously with the steering wheel. She knew this was inevitable, but she still didn’t quite feel ready. Buffy needed to go home, though. She knew that.

Buffy came out of the apartment building and got into the car beside her.

“You’re sure?” Jenny asked.

Buffy nodded. “Let’s go home,” she said.


	2. Dead Man's Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Joyce brings home a mask from the gallery that raises the dead. Buffy isn't adjusting as well to being back in Sunnydale as she would like. Her friends are distant, her mom doesn't know how to act around her, and she's still expelled from Sunnydale High. But there's nothing like a good zombie fight to make you feel at home again.

It was late when they pulled up in front of the house, and all the lights were off. Joyce must be asleep already.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Jenny asked.

“No, it’s okay,” said Buffy with a small smile.

“You have my number, just in case, you know.” _Just in case your mom keeps her word about the whole never come back thing_ , thought Jenny.

“Are you going to see Giles?” Buffy asked.

“Maybe I should wait until morning. Or tomorrow night,” said Jenny, twisting her hands a bit.

“Be brave,” said Buffy, patting her on the arm.

“You, too.”

Buffy got out and grabbed her bag from the backseat. Jenny waited and watched as Buffy rang the doorbell. A light came on upstairs, then downstairs, then Joyce opened the door. She looked annoyed at being woken up for a split second, and then she saw Buffy and pulled her into a hug. Jenny drove off.

She sat in front of Giles’ house for a good twenty minutes, fighting with herself. His light was still on, which surprised her. Still she shouldn’t disturb him this late. But he deserved to know the truth. He would be angry. But she would want to see him if it were the other way around. Finally she forced herself out of the car and onto his front doorstep. She wrapped the brass knocker. He opened the door.

He was still dressed in a suit, though he had shed the blazer and loosened the tie. He looked tired.

“Hi,” she said. She didn’t know what else to say. His eyes widened and she thought she saw everything from joy to anger flicker across his face for a brief moment. Then he settled on quiet shock.

“Hi,” he said. 

“Can I, um, come in?” 

He frowned a little. 

“How do I know that you’re not, well, I mean…”

“A soulless monster?” she finished for him. He nodded.

“I don’t know,” she said. 

“Come in.”

The last time she’d been inside, the place had been strewn with rose petals as part of Angelus’ little death show. That had all been cleaned up and the room was back to its usual tidy self. She went over and sat uncomfortably on the couch.

“Can I, um, get you something? Tea? No, of course not,” he babbled a little. She’d missed him so much.

“No, Rupert, can you just sit down?” she asked.

He came over and took a seat on the armchair next to the couch. He looked about as relaxed as she felt, which was not at all.

“What, um, what happened to you?” he asked.

She looked down at her hand for a moment before answering. “During the fight at the mansion, I ran off with Spike and Drusilla. We went south, toward Brazil. They started fighting, though, and Drusilla left him. It was just Spike and me for awhile - not romantically,” she added when she saw Giles’ face, “but then, the spell worked.”

“You got your soul back?”

“Yes. It hurt quite a bit. Who did the spell?”

“It was Willow. She’s been...dabbling with some magic,” said Giles. 

Jenny wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that, but she continued, “Spike kicked me out pretty quickly. He was in a bad mood all the time after Drusilla left. So I went back to my family. I saw my mom and my brother. But it didn’t feel right being with them after everything,” she paused and took a deep breath before going on, “everything I’ve done. Then I went to my cousin’s. She’s a witch. I asked her to check in on all of you and Buffy.”

Giles had been looking down, but he looked up and met her eye when she mentioned Buffy.

“I found her,” she said.

“Where was she?”

“LA. And then I couldn’t leave her there alone. I thought that if I could just stay and help her even a little…”

Giles stood and took his glasses off. He paced the living room.

“Why didn’t you bring her home?” he asked.

“She wasn’t ready to come home.”

“Jenny, she’s seventeen. She shouldn’t have been on her own.”

“I know that,” Jenny snapped, also rising to her feet. “That’s why I stayed with her, so she wouldn’t be alone.”

“We didn’t know where she was. We didn’t know if she was dead or trapped or anything. None of us! Her mother, all of her friends. We didn’t know where you were, if you were-” Giles had worked himself up until he was shouting at her, but he choked on the last word.

Jenny felt tears well up in her eyes. It was unfair that as a immortal creature of the night, she still had to deal with tear ducts.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

They were quiet for a long time after that. He sat back down in the chair and she on the couch. His gaze was fixed on a spot on the floor and she looked around the room, everywhere but towards him. After what felt like hours, she finally spoke.

“Have you ever seen Xena, the tv show?” 

Giles was a little taken aback.

“I’ve heard of it,” he said.

“There’s this scene I saw over the summer. Xena thinks that her love has died and then finds out she’s really alive. They find each other again and it’s perfect the way they come together. It’s never that perfect in real life, is it?

“No, I’m afraid not,” he said softly.

“I should go. Maybe we can talk again tomorrow.”

“Do you have a place to stay? Your old apartment has been sold.”

“I’m going to stay at the Twin Pines Motel,” she said.

“The sun is rising soon.”

She looked at the clock on his wall. She still had an hour.

“I’ll make it. Can we talk tomorrow?”

He nodded. She began to reach for his hand, but then stopped herself. He walked her out of his house. 

She checked into the motel. In her room, she nailed one of the blankets from the bed over the window and then curled up on top of the sheets. She wondered if Buffy’s reunion had gone better.

***

Jenny slept all day and awoke in the early hours of the evening to her pager buzzing. She cautiously moved the blanket back to look out the window. The sun was down, so she went to the front desk and called the familiar number.

“Hi Buffy, is everything ok?” she asked.

“Everything’s fine,” said Buffy, sounding as far from fine as Jenny was.

“That bad?”

“It just feels off. I mean Mom didn’t get mad, but it’s like she’s walking on eggshells. Giles is worried, Willow is avoiding me, and Xander and Cordelia are too busy sucking face to even talk to me.”

Jenny did not want to picture that last part.

“They’ve even been slaying without me. Apparently with a 60% success rate. The only positive is that Amy is out of her coma and doing fine,” said Buffy.

“I’m sorry. Maybe they just need some time to adjust. But they do need you, Buffy.”

“How did it go with you and Giles?” Buffy asked, changing the subject.

“Not great. He was pretty upset that I didn’t tell him I knew where you were.”

Buffy made a little sound in the back of her throat. Jenny wasn’t sure if she was concerned or just didn’t know what to say.

“It’ll work out, I think. Just give them time,” Jenny said. 

“Time, sure. Listen, everyone is coming over tomorrow night for dinner. Do you want to come?”

“I’m sure that will be delightfully awkward. But yes, I’ll come. Does your Mom know about me being a vampire and knowing where you were all summer?” Jenny whispered into the phone, so the motel clerk didn’t overhear. Not that he seemed interested in anything happening outside of his magazine.

“I was thinking I’d ease her into it,” said Buffy.

“Alright, sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Buffy.”

Jenny went back to the room and opened her laptop. In LA she had gotten a stay-at-home job as a software engineer. Being a vampire wasn’t exactly conducive to the 9 to 5 lifestyle, so it worked well for her. And tonight it was an excuse for her not to go out into Sunnydale. She’d face the town tomorrow.

***

Giles was unsurprisingly nose deep in a book when she found him. She leaned up against the doorframe to his office, until she felt too strong a sense of deja vu, and knocked on the door. 

“Hi, I went by your house, but you weren’t there, so I thought I might find you here,” she said.

“Yes, I suppose I am rather predictable in that regard,” he said.

“Predictable can be good,” she said. She would kill for more predictability if she was honest.

“I spoke to Buffy.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, there was a matter of a reanimated cat.” 

“I saw that. And smelled that,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the unfortunate creature on the library table.

“She seems to be in good health, if not the best of spirits,” he said. He closed his book and set it aside on the desk.

“I think she’s still quite lost.”

“Do you know what happened?”

“Yes, she told me. Angelus got the sword out of Acathla. The demon was starting to wake up when Willow’s spell worked on him. He was Angel again. She said he was confused and a bit scared. He didn’t remember what had happened yet. But his blood was the only thing to close the portal. So she killed him.”

Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them off.

“Poor girl,” he said. He put his glasses back on and said, “Listen, Jenny, I’m sor-”

“Can I help you with anything? Research, I mean,” she interrupted him. She wasn’t quite ready to be forgiven yet. 

“Yes, that would be much appreciated,” he said. He looked through a stack of books on his desk and selected an old volume. “I’ve been reading all about reanimation, trying to figure out what has happened to old Patches.”

“Patches?”

“Yes, Oz thought it was a fitting name for the cat,” he said.

Jenny smiled. There was only one chair in the office, so she climbed on top of one of the desks and began reading. Her book was all about necromancers and the ways they were able to bring back the dead. It was interesting, but didn’t seem to fit what was happening to Patches.

“Oh, lord,” said Giles. He stood and hurried over to the desk she was sitting on. He nudged her to the side to grab a book that was behind her and flipped hastily through it. He landed on a page with a drawing of an angry looking mask.

“What is that?”

“It’s the mask of the demon Ovu Mobani, referred to as the ‘Evil Eye.’ It can reanimate the dead and even allow Ovu Mobani to enter our world. And it’s currently hanging in Joyce Summers’ bedroom,” he said.

“Why do you know what’s in Buffy’s mom’s bedroom?” asked Jenny, surprising herself with how jealous she sounded.

“It’s where the dead cat was,” he said as he began dialing a number on the library phone. The conversation he had was brief and fruitless. It mostly involved him yelling Buffy’s name while loud music came through from the other end. The dinner party at Buffy's house seemed to have taken a more raucous turn.

“We’d better go,” he said, grabbing his jacket as he ran out the door.

Giles muttered to himself as he drove them to Buffy’s.

“Unbelievable. ‘Do you like my mask? Isn’t it pretty?’ Americans.” He glanced over at Jenny and said, “No offense.”

“I’m from Romania,” she said with a shrug.

A figure, lumbering as though drunk, stepped in front of the car. Giles slammed on the brakes, but couldn’t avoid hitting the man. He flew backwards and landed in the street.

“Oh, god,” said Jenny.

They both got out of the car. Giles started to run to the man, when Jenny grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Nope, he’s long, long dead,” she said.

More lumbering zombies began emerging from the alleyways. 

“Wait,” Giles said, as Jenny pulled him back to the car. She didn’t listen, but pushed him inside and jumped in after him.

“The keys fell out of my pocket,” he said. Yep, there they were lying in the zombie-filled street. 

“I’ll get them,” she said.

“No, it’s alright. I’ll just-” He pulled open a panel under the dashboard, exposing a group of wires. He ripped some and pushed others together and the car started. A zombie punched its arm through the window and Jenny bit it and shoved it back out. Giles stepped on the gas and they sped down the street, knocking down zombies like bowling pins.

“Rupert, as sexy as it is that you know how to hotwire a car, you know I’m immortal, right?” she said.

“Not entirely. And you should still be careful,” he said. He glanced over at her and added, “By the way, you still have…” he pointed at his forehead. She reached up and felt the ridges over her eyes and felt herself blush. She quickly went back to her normal face.

“I guess this is the first time you’ve seen me in vamp face,” she said sheepishly.

“Well, I must say I prefer the original, but there is a sort of rugged and intimidating beauty to your vampire face.”

She knew he was lying, but she smiled anyway.

***

The quiet dinner party turned loud party turned zombie attack at Buffy's house was deceptively quiet when Giles and Jenny pulled up. They saw a few party goers sprinting down the street in a panic, but otherwise the house seemed still. The living room window was shattered and the front door had a large hole through it. Giles invited Jenny inside and they crept into the house, tense from the stillness.

“It might be time for your game-face again, Jenny,” Giles said softly to her.

They heard something in the direction of the kitchen and moved toward it. Out of the corner of her eyes Jenny saw something heading towards Giles and grabbed it. She found herself holding one end of a ski pole swung by Cordelia. Behind Cordelia stood Oz with his own ski pole.

“Cordelia, it’s us,” said Giles.

“How do I know you’re not still an evil vampire and you’re not zombie Giles?” Cordelia asked.

“Cordelia, do stop being tiresome!” Giles said, exasperated. 

“That’s him,” she said. She turned to Jenny, “I’m glad you’re not dead, Ms. Calendar, though I got to say, the bat face is not your best look.”

Jenny rolled her eyes.

“Good to see you, Ms. C,” said Oz, patting her shoulder.

“I think the dead man’s party has moved upstairs,” he then added.

Jenny led the way up the stairs while Giles explained what the mask could do to Oz and Cordelia. There were some yelps and then a loud crash from one of the rooms, so Jenny sprinted forward and burst through the door. The window was broken, and Xander, Willow, and Joyce were crouched behind a bed as a zombie advanced toward them. Jenny grabbed the zombie from behind and slung it against the wall on the other side of the room. It got up and came toward her. She hit it hard, but it barely flinched. Frustrated, she grabbed it by the head and twisted until the neck snapped. It fell down. And then it got back up, its head now tilted at an unnatural angle.

“Rupert, any ideas?” she yelled out toward the hallway.

“You must destroy the eyes of the mask,” he shouted back.

She looked around, but there was no mask in the room. Then there was a bright flash of light from the front yard. The zombie vanished without leaving so much as an ash pile. Jenny ran to the window to see Buffy standing there with a shovel in hand.

“Ms. Calendar?” said Willow shakily, rising up from behind the bed. Jenny kept her back to them for a moment, returning her face to normal, before turning to them. Willow had tears in her eyes. She hesitated and then ran forward and hugged Jenny. Xander looked stunned.

“Didn’t you die?” asked Joyce.

“Yes,” said Jenny, patting Willow’s head.

They found Giles and Cordelia in the hallway and went downstairs to meet Buffy and Oz.

“Honey, are you alright?” Joyce asked Buffy, hugging her. They held on tight to each other.

“So is this a typical day at the office?” Joyce asked when they broke apart.

Buffy looked around the trashed house.

“This? No. This is nothing,” she said. Joyce looked absolutely appalled. 

“Sorry, we were so late,” said Jenny. 

“You missed a fun party,” said Buffy, with a cheeky grin.

“Well, I think this calls for a group hug,” said Oz.

“I’m definitely feeling the group-ness and the hug-ness,” agreed Xander.

They squished Buffy into the center and hugged her from all sides. Jenny noticed Giles standing back, far too proper to engage in such things, so she pulled him into it.

“Right, yes, well,” he said.

Later as the kids were talking and Joyce was making them hot chocolate, Giles and Jenny excused themselves.

“Now I just need to get Snyder to let Buffy back into the school,” he told her as they walked back out to his car.

“I’m so happy not to work for that wretched man anymore. Do you think it will be hard to convince him?”

“I have a few ideas how to do it,” he said with a faint smile.

He drove her back to the motel and they sat a moment in the car. Quickly, Jenny leaned over and pecked him on the cheek.

“Goodnight, England,” she said and she ran inside.


	3. Faith, Hope, and Trick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Faith, the new and somewhat reckless slayer, arrives in Sunnydale. Buffy's suspicions of Faith grow even stronger when they find out Faith's watcher is dead and two new vampires have followed her.

Buffy was setting the small table in the courtyard of Giles’ house, wearing a bright yellow dress and sweater. It was an oddly domestic scene for the vampire slayer, but a welcome one.

“Buffy, banned from campus, but not from our hearts. How are you and what’s for lunch?” asked Xander, pulling up a seat.

“I just threw together a few things,” she said, gesturing to the plates of cold cuts, fruits, crackers and dip, pasta salad, and even a pie.

“When did you become Martha Stewart?” asked Cordelia, sitting beside Xander. Oz and Willow went around to the shady side of the table.

“Firstly, Martha Stewart knows jack about hand-cut prosciutto. And second, I just had a lot of time on my hands what with being kicked out of school. Plus, Jenny taught me a few recipes in LA. Though, I must say she is not god’s gift to cooking.”

“Bite your tongue,” said Jenny, coming out under the awning with a pitcher of lemonade. She wore a leather jacket, a black sun hat, and large sunglasses, and she held an umbrella over herself for good measure. They had saved the shadiest corner of the table for her. Giles followed her out with some tea for them.

“Should we be having this little shindig indoors, where there is a lower combustibility risk?” asked Oz.

“No, don’t worry about me. I’m fully covered. We should be enjoying this beautiful day,” said Jenny. She eyed the sun-drenched courtyard like it was anything but beautiful.

“Just let us know if you get a little…” Giles began.

“Steamy?” filled in Xander with a grin.

Even behind the sunglasses, they could all see Jenny’s glare at him.

“So you two haven’t told us about your time in LA. Were you hitting the clubs every night and meeting all the movie stars?” asked Willow.

“Hardly. We were staying in a one bedroom apartment, which we could only afford if I worked all day at a crappy diner and Jenny worked all night on some computer thing,” said Buffy.

“Software development,” said Jenny. Willow looked like she wanted to ask Jenny more about it, but Xander cut her off.

“Wait, one bedroom, as in one bed? You and Ms. Calendar? Now that’s interesting,” he said, gesturing a bit with a hummus-coated cracker.

“Cordelia, I can’t reach him in the sun. Could you give him a smack for me?” asked Jenny.

“With pleasure,” Cordelia said, cuffing him on the back of the head.

“It wasn’t like that. I slept the night shift, and she took the day,” said Buffy.

“Totally platonic. Familial, even,” said Jenny.

“Whatever you say, Ms. Newman,” said Xander.

Giles looked very much like he wanted the hellmouth to swallow him up, so they changed the subject. Instead they moved on to talking about Buffy’s meeting with Principal Snyder to let her come back to school and Scott Hope, the boy who had a crush on Buffy. Giles didn’t look too fond of that topic of conversation either.

***

Jenny needed to a new butcher. She had finished the last of the blood bags that she had stolen from the LA blood bank, so she would have to go back to pig’s blood. Or maybe she could just steal one more from the hospital. No. No, that was a bad idea. It was pig’s blood or bust. There wasn’t as wide a selection of butcher shops as there had been in LA, so she decided to just visit the first one she found in the phonebook, Bailey’s Meat Market.

The butcher wasn’t as friendly as the LA one, but he didn’t bat an eye when she asked for blood. She shouldn’t be surprised. This was Sunnydale after all. The blood was even hot when he brought it out. She wondered if it was fresh or if he had warmed it up for her. She thanked him and headed back to the motel. She snuck a sip of the blood on the way. If human blood was filet mignon, then this was spam. But it was drinkable, and it did warm her up.

A black limo went screeching past her as she walked, nearly running up onto the sidewalk and hitting her. She yelled few choice words at them and continued on her way.

***

Willow took the sage and breathed it in deeply. She loved that smell. Giles was asking Buffy all sorts of questions about Acathla, trying to stop him permanently with a binding spell, and Willow just couldn’t understand why he didn’t want her to help. It’s not like she was some sort of reckless delinquent who would lose all control of magic. She would be careful. Buffy said something about a make up test and walked out of the library.

“Marnox root,” said Willow, examining one of the jars on the counter. “Just a smidge of this mixed with a virgin’s saliva...does something I know nothing about.”

Giles was giving her his concerned librarian face.

“These forces aren't something one plays around with, Willow. What have you been conjuring?” he asked.

Willow’s voice raised in pitch as she said, “Nothing much. I mean, I did the two restoration spells, but after that just, you know, small stuff. Floating feather, fire out of ice, which next time I won't do on the bedspread. Do you think that maybe I should ask Ms. Calendar about this stuff? I mean, she knows about it.”

“Yes, actually I think that would be a rather good idea,” he said.

“And you’re not mad?”

“No. If I were angry, I believe I would be - how did you put it earlier? - ‘making a strange clucking noise with my tongue,’” he said.

***

It was not a date. A meeting, maybe. A conversation between friends. A potential pre-date, perhaps, but definitely not a date. So why was she so nervous?

Jenny went back to her suitcase and dumped it out on the bed. Her Ms. Calendar-the-teacher clothes had all been left behind and given away and her Jenny-the-vampire clothes all tended to make her look like goth rock groupie. She had gotten some new outfits in LA, building an impressive collection of sweatpants and plaid. Nothing exactly potential pre-date worthy. Still, she had two dresses from her soulless days that were not horrible: a long-sleeve black one that ended mid-thigh and a tight red one with a v-neck collar.

In the past, Jenny would try on each outfit in front of the mirror, but that didn’t work so well now, what with the lack of reflection. She would just have to imagine as best she could what they’d look like. She was paler now, so black might not be the best choice. It could make her too washed out. But the red dress seemed a little presumptuous. It was the kind of dress that you wore on the third or fourth date. And this was not even a date. Red had always been a good color on her, though.

God! When had she turned into Cordelia?

Jenny went with the black one. Then there was makeup, which was a feat in and of itself. She did most of it by muscle memory and then at the end she took a polaroid picture of herself to make sure that she made no mistakes. She was too pale, but the makeup looked good.

Finally ready, she grabbed her purse and walked over to Giles’ house. When he answered the door, she was relieved to see that he had dressed up, too. Well, he was always dressed up to be honest, but now he was wearing a more modern two-piece suit, made of cotton, rather than his usual tweed.

“Jenny, please come in. You look wonderful,” he said.

“Right back at ya,” she said, looking him up and down, and giving him a rather wicked smile.

Jenny was surprised to smell blood when she entered the house, and it took her a concerned moment to realize that the smell was originating from the dining table. There were two bowls set out on the table, both holding similar looking soups. One, however, was filled with vegetables and cooked chicken and the other had red cubes floating in it.

“It’s blood soup, made with congealed chicken blood. I picked some up from the butcher shop today. I thought you might like to try something new,” he said.

The smell was mouth-watering. Maybe spam could be filet mignon with the right spices.

“Thank you,” she said.

He pulled out her chair for her, poured her a glass of cow’s blood and himself a glass of red wine. God, Jenny wanted to jump him right then and there. She didn’t.

They didn’t talk about anything too heavy during dinner, keeping the conversation on safer subjects like the books they had read over the summer and the demon cult that Jenny and Buffy had met in LA. It wasn’t until after they had finished eating and moved onto the couch that Giles brought up the serious stuff.

“Jenny, I think we should, er, talk about, well, you know, about where we left off, before you, well.”

“Died?” she asked.

“Yes, quite so,” he said.

“Where we left off. Well, I had just told you that I loved you. And Buffy told me that you missed me. And we were going to meet up here at your house and...reconcile.” She leaned in closer to him as she spoke.

“Yes, that is- and I should- I mean. What I mean is. I love you, too, Jenny. Most ardently. But-” he looked down. She knew what was coming from the tone of his voice.

“Things have changed,” she said, sitting back on the couch.

He reached up and touched her hair, a more comforting gesture than a romantic one.

“I’m a vampire now,” she said.

“And the truth is, I’m going to grow very old and frail and you will stay young and perfect forever,” he said.

“And we can’t even have sex without me going all Fatal Attraction on you,” she added.

“Our sleep schedules are completely different.”

“I drink blood, which has to gross you out.”

“So, friends?” he asked. She leaned forward and kissed him. His hand ran through her hair as he began to kiss her back. He felt so warm beneath her.

“Friends,” she agreed when they finally broke apart.

***

Giles was waxing on about the Watcher’s Retreat and Buffy was trying not to roll her eyes too hard about what sounded like the most boring event in the world.

“Ah, it’s boring. Way too stuffy for a guy like you,” said Faith. The new slayer was meeting Giles for the first time and Buffy wasn’t sure she liked Faith’s tone with her Watcher.

“Maybe I should introduce you again. Faith, this is Giles.”

“I seen him. If I’da known they came that young and cute, I’d’ve requested a transfer,” said Faith with a smirk. Even more horrible was Giles looking rather flattered.

“Just don’t let his vamp girlfriend hear that,” said Xander.

“No way! You’re dating a vampire?” asked Faith.

“Jenny, and she has a soul. And we’re not dating, exactly. Actually, Buffy, you should introduce them, so Faith doesn’t mistakenly…” said Giles. Buffy agreed.

“Dating a vampire. Now you seem even cuter,” said Faith.

“Well, leaving for the moment my youth and beauty, I would say it's fortuitous that Faith arrived when she did,” said Giles. He went on to tell them all about some missing people and Buffy somehow ended up inviting Faith over to dinner.

***

Jenny came back from her evening walk to find a young woman struggling with the motel’s soda machine.

“You have to shake it twice and then hit it,” said Jenny. She had been experimenting with Dr. Pepper and blood combinations and had become an expert on the tricky machine. The woman did the shake-and-hit and her drink fell down.

“Thanks, I’ve been trying to make it work for five minutes. I thought I was gonna have to pry the whole thing open,” she said.

“No worries, I’ve struggled with that stupid machine more than once,” said Jenny.

“Yeah, this place is kind of a piece of shit. What brings you here?” asked the woman, looking her up and down. Jenny supposed she did dress a little differently than the motel’s usual clientele.

“I used to live in Sunnydale, then LA, but now I’m back here. And I just need a place to stay until I can get an apartment. Are you here to stay or just passing through?”

“Not sure yet. I’m Faith,” the woman said, holding out her hand.

“Oh, you’re the new slayer. I’m Jenny.”

“The vamp girlfriend, it is nice to meet you.” Faith took a closer look at Jenny. “You know, Buffy was supposed to introduce us, but we got a little distracted.”

“Yeah, I heard,” said Jenny. Buffy had gone on for a good ten minutes about Faith taking over her life and going postal on a vampire.

And speaking of Buffy…

“Faith, we need to talk,” said Buffy marching up to them.

“Well, what brings you to the poor side of town?” asked Faith.

“Cloven guy, name of Kakistos,” said Buffy. Faith’s confident smile faded.

“We should go inside to talk,” said Jenny, eyeing some of the people hanging around the motel parking lot. The three of them ducked into Faith’s room.

“What do you know about Kakistos?” asked Faith.

“That he’s here,” said Buffy. Faith visibly flinched.

“So we're not happy to see old friends. What'd he do to you?” asked Buffy. Jenny shifted a little and wondered if she should leave and let them argue in peace.

“It's what I did to him.” Faith grabbed a bag and tossed it open on the bed. She began moving around the room grabbing her belongings.

“And what would that be? You came here for a reason, Faith. We can help,” Buffy said, sounding sincere.

“You can mind your own business. I'm the one who can handle this,” snapped Faith.

“Yeah, you're a real badass when it comes to packing,” said Buffy.

“Buffy,” said Jenny, moving between them. Faith pushed her out of the way and faced Buffy.

“You don't know me, you don't know what I've been through. I'll take care of it,” said Faith. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

“Like you took care or your watcher?” asked Buffy.

Faith stopped.

“He killed her, didn't he?”

“They don't have a word for what he did to her,” said Faith. She reached for the doorknob when there was a knock at the door. Faith opened the door. The motel manager stood there, swaying. The smell of blood hit Jenny just before the manager fell forward, revealing a monstrous man behind him. He looked like a mix of a vampire and a satyr and had a face mangled by a deep scar. He grabbed for Faith, but Jenny and Buffy leapt forward. Jenny grabbed Faith and managed to pull her out of Kakistos’ grasp and Buffy forced the door shut, locking it.

Faith was clenching at her hair and frantically crying, “No, no.”

A cloven hand broke through the door and Faith screamed. Jenny pushed her toward the bathroom. There was a small window high up on the wall. Buffy grabbed a chair and hurled it through. Jenny jumped up and climbed through the window first. Buffy boosted Faith up and Jenny helped catch the distraught woman. Then Buffy jumped out. They could hear the motel door being ripped off its hinges as Kakistos got through.

They took off, sprinting through Sunnydale’s maze of alleyways, with a pack of at least six or seven vampires after them. Buffy spotted an abandoned firehouse and pulled the other two inside. They paused, panting hard, but didn’t hear the vampires.

“What happened, Faith?” Jenny asked.

Faith was starting to cry, but she managed to explain. “I was there. When he killed my Watcher. I saw what he did to her. What he was gonna do to me. I tried, but I couldn’t stop him, so I ran.”

Jenny knew that feeling better than she could explain.

“Faith, first rule of slaying: don’t die. You did the right thing, you didn’t die. Now, do the math. Three of us, one of him,” said Buffy. Faith only shook her head.

“Buffy,” said Jenny, catching an odor of death. She walked over to a pile of crates in the corner of the room and pushed them aside. There was a pile of three bodies lying behind them, vampire kills, every one.

“No, no, this is his place,” said Faith with a whimper.

“They drove us here,” said Buffy.

The vampires ran into the firehouse. Faith was still frozen, but Jenny and Buffy began fighting them. Well, Jenny fought one and Buffy took on the other three. Then Kakistos walked into the room, his eyes focused on Faith. Jenny kicked the legs out from under the vampire she was fighting and ran to push Kakistos away from Faith.

“Traitor,” he growled at her. He grabbed her by the head and slammed her hard against the stone wall. The world faded to black, and Jenny fell unconscious.

***

Jenny woke up with her head throbbing. She felt nauseated for the first time since becoming a vampire. Could vampires vomit? She didn’t want to find out. The light hurt her eyes, just like when she had first risen, but she was able to make out Buffy sitting next to her.

“Giles, she’s awake,” said Buffy. Giles ran over to the couch she was laying down on.

“How are you feeling?” asked Giles, crouching beside her.

“Did I get in a fight with a train?” she asked.

“Close, an ancient vampire. He’s dead now,” said Giles.

“Yeah, you kind of saved my life. Well, ya tried to,” said a young woman with dark hair. Jenny frowned at her in confusion. She seemed familiar.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“This is Faith. She’s the other vampire slayer,” said Buffy slowly.

“I think she has a concussion,” said Giles, then, “Jenny, do you know who I am?”

“Mm, sexy fuddy duddy,” she mumbled. She felt so sleepy. She closed her eyes, but she could still hear them talking over her.

“Yes, well. I think she had better stay here tonight,” said Giles.

“I’ll get her things from the motel,” said Buffy.

Jenny drifted off again.

***

Willow couldn’t believe how bad she felt for Buffy. The restoration spell had worked and Willow had actually managed to re-ensoul Angel. But in the end it hadn’t mattered. Buffy had to kill him anyway. Willow just wanted to do whatever she could to help Buffy, starting with making sure Acathla never rose again.

“Giles? I know you don't like me playing with the mystical forces, but I really could help with the binding spell,” she said, once Buffy had gone.

“There is no spell. Jenny told me days ago what had happened. I just thought it might be cathartic for Buffy to tell us.”

“Oh. Do you think it helped?” Willow asked.

“Yes, indeed I do.”

“Is Ms. Calendar ok?”

“She a little woozy, but she’ll be fine. She’s very resilient.” Giles looked at the front door of the library, which Buffy had left through. Willow got the sense that he wasn’t just talking about Ms. Calendar. He was lost in thought for a moment and then turned and went into his office.


	4. Beauty and the Beasts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: After some people are mauled to death around the full moon, the gang suspects Oz may be the killer. Buffy finds Angel, who has returned from the hell dimension, but his time in the dimension has made him wild and crazed. She thinks he might be the killer, but doesn't tell the others that he's back. It turns out the killer is this Jekyll and Hyde dude, who Angel ends up killing. Also Buffy dates a very forgettable boy named Scott (sorry Scott fans).

Jenny was still a little mixed up from her injury. She could hardly stand to be around light. Even a dimly lit room was too much for her at first. Luckily, Giles had bought thick black curtains for his bedroom, so she was able to sleep all day in there. The scoobies visited her and let her know all the fun werewolf action that she was missing out on. 

Willow came by on the night of the full moon, having just been to the morgue to investigate the possible werewolf killing. Faith was keeping an eye on the werewolf in question, Oz, a job that was supposed to be Jenny’s, but one she couldn’t do until she was less concussed. Willow spread out the samples that she had collected from the body on the living room coffee table. The lights were off, except one candle, but Jenny could see the plastic bags just fine.

“It was so gross. I actually fainted and I never faint, but the blood everywhere and just the smell of it. You could even see his heart, you know, because his chest was slashed open,” Willow said. Jenny tried not to lick her lips. Her threshold for disgusting had really shifted since becoming a vampire.

“Do you think you can tell what did it?” Willow asked.

Jenny picked up one of the plastic bags labelled “under fingernails” and sniffed the contents. The dead boy did seem like he had managed to scratch his attacker. It didn’t smell quite like Oz, but she couldn’t be sure.

“I can’t tell exactly, but I don’t think vampire. Usually they’re tidier than a mauling. Unless it’s a completely feral vampire. It could be werewolf, or not. I think we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens to Oz tonight,” said Jenny. It wasn’t the answer that Willow wanted exactly, but it was the best Jenny could do right now.

“Maybe there’s a spell we could do. To find the attacker,” said Willow. She looked like she expected Jenny to jump at the opportunity, but Jenny just sat back on the couch.

“Willow, Rupert mentioned you were getting more involved with magic. I know it can be exciting, but magic can be dangerous, too. Really dangerous,” said Jenny.

“It saved your soul, didn’t it?” said Willow, pouting a little.

“Yes, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. But, if you aren’t careful, it can overtake you. There’s a reason I was never a practicing witch,” said Jenny.

“Your cousin is, isn’t she?” asked Willow.

“Yeah, and she is very careful. She doesn’t try things that are beyond her abilities. I’m not going to tell you not to do any magic ever. Just take it slow, do your research, and be careful,” said Jenny.

“Ok, I can do that,” said Willow, smiling again.

***

Buffy came by after school the next day. Jenny was snoozing upstairs but awoke to find Buffy leaning over her and whispering something about disappointment. 

“Buffy, is everything ok?” asked Jenny.

Buffy snapped upright and backed away.

“Yep, everything is fine. The finest really. I just need to do something. Feel better,” she said and scurried away. Giles came upstairs after she’d left and handed Jenny a cup of warm blood.

“Ok, was that my concussion or was she acting weird?” she asked him.

“She had a dream about Angel, that he came back to life somehow,” he said.

“Evil Angel or Soul Angel.”

“I’m not sure, but I think it upset her. What did she say to you?” he asked.

“I think she said she didn’t want me to be disappointed in her.” Jenny took a sip of the blood, thinking hard. “Must have been a very vivid dream.”

“I used to have dreams like that. When you first died. I thought I had lost you forever. I never really had hope that the restoration spell would work, not until you came back to Sunnydale.” He sat down on the bed next to her and she reached out and touched his arm.

“Will you lie down with me for awhile?” she asked. He nodded, took his shoes off, and climbed into bed next to her. She turned so her back was to him and pulled his arm around her.

“Still just friends?” she asked.

“Perhaps best friends,” he said, kissing her temple.


	5. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Buffy and Cordelia start fighting and campaigning against each other to become Homecoming Queen. Meanwhile, Mr. Trick organizes Slayer Fest, an event where humans, vampires, and demons can compete against each other to see who can hunt and kill a slayer. Faith and Buffy are supposed to be the targets, but it ends up being Cordelia and Buffy, who have to work together to beat the hunters. Giles gets knocked out again by vampires at the Homecoming dance. And in the end, neither Buffy nor Cordelia win Homecoming Queen, but they looked fabulous and kicked ass.
> 
> Really short chapter today, but stayed tuned for Band Candy coming soon!

“You want me to do what?” Jenny asked.

“A database. To track who’s voting for me, who’s on the fence, who I need to target, you know all that tech-y nerd stuff,” said Buffy.

“For homecoming?”

“Yes, for homecoming,” said Buffy.

“But, um, why?” Jenny asked. Buffy sighed. She’d already explained it twice, but Jenny still looked lost. Her concussion hadn’t fully healed yet.

“You were popular in high school, weren’t you? I mean, you must’ve been. Didn’t you do homecoming queen or spring fling queen or anything like that?” Buffy asked.

“I was homeschooled,” said Jenny.

“So, no?”

“I’m sorry, Buffy.”

“Can you at least hack into Cordelia’s database for me?”

“Alright, fine,” said Jenny.

***

Giles finished tying his tie while Jenny watched him from the bed. She was dressed in her sweatpants and one of his t-shirts and was alternating between looking at him with interest and sulking.

“I don’t see why I can’t come,” she said.

“You don’t think it would be a little shocking for the students to see their teacher, who has been dead for months, show up for a school dance?” he asked.

“They’ve seen weirder things,” she said.

“Undoubtedly, but I still think it would be a bad idea.”

“So you don’t want to dance with me while I wear a sexy yet tasteful dress?” she asked, rolling onto her back. Giles went over and stroked her cheek. There was still a faint yellowish bruise on her forehead, though her skull fracture seemed more or less healed.

“You have no idea how much I want that,” he said, “Perhaps we could go away some weekend. Somewhere with dancing and fine restaurants.”

Jenny took his hand from her face and kissed it.

“And monster trucks,” she said, then laughed at the expression on his face. He shook his head at her.

“Alright, I’ll stay here all by myself. All alone,” she said.

“Thank you,” he said.


	6. Band Candy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Ethan Rayne returns and curses some chocolate so that anyone who eats it begins acting like a teenager. With all the adults off being irresponsible, the mayor and his vampire gang are free to kidnap some babies from the hospital and offer them as a sacrifice to the demon Lurconis. Buffy saves the day, with a little help from "teen" Giles and Joyce.

The sun was just setting when Giles got home and Jenny was still sleeping soundly upstairs. He was glad, in a way. It gave him a chance to make her breakfast. He lit the stove top and set a pot on it. Joyce had given him several of her chocolate bars - the best chocolate he’d ever tasted - and vampire or not, he wanted Jenny to try them. He broke the bars into chunks and threw them into the pot, then added some milk and a cup of blood. He stirred it all together and poured it into her favorite mug.

“Jenny,” he said, shaking her awake.

She groaned. She was not an early riser most nights.

“Try this,” he said, pushing the mug into her hands.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Hot chocolate.”

She took a sip. There was a bit too much milk, overpowering the taste of the blood, but it wasn’t bad. She took another sip. Actually that wasn’t bad at all.

***

The next night, Jenny awoke to the smell of cigarette smoke. There was music playing, as well, what sounded like “Tales of the Brave Ulysses” by Cream. She hadn’t heard that song in years. Giles had left one of the candy bars by the bed and she grabbed it and broke off a piece. It tasted god awful, but gave her such a delightful feeling. Like an edible. She made her way downstairs.

“What the hell is she doing here?” Jenny snapped, when she saw what was happening in the living room.

Joyce Summers was sitting on the floor, mixing kahlua and pepsi together and nodding along to the music.

“Christ, I thought you were going to sleep all night as well as all day,” Giles said, not moving from where he was sprawled on the carpet with Joyce. 

“Well, you certainly didn’t waste any time finding someone else!” Jenny shouted.

“You’re impossible. Do you know that?” He stood up and began messing with his hair in the mirror.

“I’m impossible? You know what? I’m out of here. Have fun with your new skank,” she said, storming out of the apartment. She broke off another piece of chocolate and ate it. She felt a little better.

***

Dingoes Ate My Baby was up playing on the stage when Buffy and Willow walked in. At first glance, it could be mistaken for a normal night at the Bronze, until they noticed that the average age of the customers seemed to have skyrocketed. There were a few kids from school standing around in confusion, watching as the dance floor was overtaken by adults grinding on each other and doing shots.

“Whoa, let’s do the time warp again,” said Buffy, scanning the room.

“Maybe there’s a reunion in town or a Billy Joel tour or something,” said Willow.

Old Ms. Barton, the chemistry teacher, staggered past them with a drink in each hand. She bumped into Willow and started giggling over Willow’s name. Mr. Miller, the history teacher, was shirtless with his tie wrapped around his head, standing in a group of middle aged men who were chanting “chug, chug, chug” at a man that Buffy recognized as one of her mother’s coworkers at the gallery. Something was definitely flipped. They kept moving through the raucous crowd and then they saw-

“Wow, Ms. Calendar is a really good dancer,” said Willow, going wide-eyed.

Jenny was in the center of the dance floor with Ms. Tishler, dancing in a way that made Willow blush a deep red. Every once in awhile one of the old men would try to approach them, and Jenny would shove them away with ease. Otherwise she seemed oblivious to everyone other than her dance partner.

“Boy, they can really move, can’t they?” asked Snyder, coming up behind Buffy and Willow. He started chattering to them about the Bronze, using slang that was already outdated when their parents were in high school.

Buffy ignored him and marched onto the dance floor to pull Jenny away from Ms. Tishler.

“Hey, what’s your problem, Buffy?” Jenny asked. Buffy took a moment to really look at her. Jenny looked like she had raided Drusilla’s wardrobe and added smokey eye makeup and deep red lipstick. She looked more like a vampire than ever - and also a little bit like Faith.

“What’s my problem? Where’s Giles?” asked Buffy.

Jenny scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you ask your mom? He seemed to be having a great time with her.”

“What?” said Buffy, though she really, really didn’t want to know. Willow was still looking bug-eyed at Jenny.

“Well, I’m going to get back to Sarah,” Jenny said, pointing to Ms. Tishler who was impatiently waiting.

“You know, you can’t…” Buffy began.

“Don’t worry, she seems like a pillow princess,” Jenny said, and she pulled away from Buffy.

“What’s-” began Willow.

“I’ll tell you later,” said Buffy. 

Dingoes Ate My Baby finished their set and Oz joined them, looking perplexed but unruffled as usual. The stage was soon taken by a group of men who began a off-key acapella version of “Louie, Louie.” They needed to get out of there, find Giles, and hope that even his sixteen year old self had enough common sense to help them. 

***

The candy wore off pretty quickly after the demon Lurconis died, and all the adults were left in the wreckage their teenage selves had caused. For Jenny it posed a particular problem, as she found herself at Sarah Tishler’s house with just fifteen minutes until sunrise. The cold light of dawn would cause more than just regrets for her if she didn’t get out of there soon. Jenny began grabbing her clothes as fast as possible while Sarah sat frozen on the bed.

“I have a girlfriend,” said Sarah, though she seemed like she was talking more to herself than Jenny. “I don’t know what came over me. I mean, I don’t do stuff like this. I haven’t done anything remotely like this since I was sixteen. Oh, god, what am I going to say to Laura?”

Sarah paused in the middle of her shame rant and watched Jenny for a moment.

“Wait, didn’t you get murdered last year?” Sarah asked.

“I was in witness protection,” said Jenny quickly. “Sorry, I have to go. Oh, and good luck to you and Laura.”

Jenny ran as fast as she could back to Giles’ house, making it just as the sun started shining into the courtyard. She ran upstairs to the bedroom with its blackout curtains. Giles came home a few minutes later, wearing a white t-shirt and ripped jeans. Neither could quite meet the other’s eye, but Giles managed to explain to her how the chocolate had been cursed by Ethan Rayne.

“Well, I should get ready. Buffy is taking the SATs today,” he said.

“Tell her good luck from me. And sorry for scarring her for life,” she said.

“Yes, I have quite the same a apology.” He looked up at Jenny and then quickly away.

“Rupert? Can we never speak of this again?” she asked.

“Please,” he said.

After he left, she lay back on the bed and rubbed her face. Her hands came away with dark eyeshadow smears on them. She probably looked horrible, but she couldn’t exactly go check herself in the bathroom mirror. She took off the red dress and went to wash off her makeup. She knew it was the candy that had caused her to behave as she did, but she still felt guilty. Cheating on her partner and hooking up with someone she barely knew were things that teenage Jenny had done in her wildest phase. Not the proudest time of her life. But ever since she turned twenty, she had never strayed out on any of her girlfriends or boyfriends. She considered herself extremely loyal and she knew Rupert was the same way. Under normal circumstances, at least.

She wished Ethan Rayne hadn’t gotten away, because she would very much like to kill and eat him right now.


	7. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Faith's new watcher, Mrs. Gwendolyn Post, arrives in Sunnydale. She spends her first days criticizing Buffy, Faith, and Giles constantly, and tells them about a demon that is looking for the magical Glove of Myhnegon. Xander discovers that Angel is back from the hell dimension and Buffy has been hiding him. Mrs. Post turns out to be a traitor. She attacks Giles and takes the Glove for herself. The gang defeats her, but there's a lot of hurt feelings about the whole Angel thing.

The vampire lunged at Buffy, but she rolled back, tossing him over herself with his own momentum. She was a graceful fighter, and a crafty one. Faith was less subtle with her slaying style. She boxed her vampire in the head and shoved him away with brute force when he got too close to her. 

“They’re getting pretty good at working together,” said Jenny from where she sat on a headstone with Giles. 

“They have a gained a certain rapport with it, haven’t they?” he said, taking a sip of the tea he had brought with him.

Buffy and Faith pushed the vampires into each other and staked them in unison, causing the vampires to vanish into dust. Buffy and Faith high-fived, grinning at each other.

“So, what do you think?” asked Buffy, looking at Giles.

“Sloppy,” said a voice. They turned to see a prim woman in a pantsuit walking toward them. She had a stern look on her face that made even Giles feel like a scolded child.

“You telegraph punches,” she said to Faith, “leave blind sides open,” to Buffy, “and, for a school night slaying, you take entirely too much time. Which one of you is Faith?” The woman spoke quickly and precisely, as if she had no time to waste with pleasantries.

“Depends. Who the hell are you?” asked Faith.

“Gwendolyn Post, Mrs. Your new watcher,” she said. 

They all glanced over at each other, unsettled by the arrival of this woman.

“Sloppy or not, they got the job done,” said Jenny. Mrs. Post turned to her, reminding them a bit of a hawk looking for a mouse.

“And you are?” she asked.

“Leaving,” said Jenny, and she did.

“My girlfriend, Jenny,” said Giles, pointing to Jenny as she walked away.

“You bring your girlfriend to watch the Slayers at work? They told me your methods were unorthodox, but that is beyond what I expected. Anyway, we should reconvene elsewhere, I think. Perhap in the library. You do have a library?”

“Yes, we do. It’s this way,” he said. He lead the way back to the high school, looking back to see Buffy and Faith dragging their feet and exchanging suspicious and annoyed glances with each other and the back of Mrs. Post’s head.

***

Xander walked across the graveyard alone, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure there wasn’t a demon sneaking up behind him. Boy, did he want to be anywhere but here. Just because Giles had nearly caught him and Willow kissing in the library, he felt the need to do something noble and get himself killed. Stupid guilt. Now he had to sit outside a crypt all night, waiting for a demon to steal the Glove of Manchego. Wait, no. The Glove of Many Gongs? Myhnegon, that was it. The new watcher, a woman who made Giles seem like a laid-back rule breaker, had warned them about the horrible demon hunting for the glove, hoping to gain its magical powers. Xander held his stake tighter to himself.

He looked behind himself, still walking, and yelped as he collided with something.

“Hi Xander, careful where you point that thing,” said Jenny.

“Jeez, Ms. Calendar, give me a heart attack, will you? What is it with ensouled vampires and all the sneaking?”

She shrugged.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked.

“Giles thought the Glove would be here in the Von Hauptman crypt. I got stake out duty,” he said.

“Cool, I checked Ashfield and Wilson Cemeteries, nothing there.”

Xander had his back to the crypt as they talked, but Jenny faced it. Her eyes went suddenly wide and she pulled him behind a tree. She put her hand over his mouth so he didn’t cry out and pointed toward the crypt. He looked.

Holy shit.

Angel walked out, holding a bundle under his arm. Angel who was definitely dead, and had been killed, and was not alive, was somehow casually strolling through the streets of Sunnydale. Angel didn’t notice them and kept on moving like he wasn’t an impossible sight. Xander leaned forward, waiting until Angel was out of sight. 

“Should we-” Xander turned behind him, but Jenny was gone. “-follow him?” Xander finished to no one. 

***

“The signs are daunting, Mr. Giles,” said Mrs. Post, giving him yet another lecture. This one was in his own home, too, which somehow made it worse. He wondered why he had invited her over. He was trying to keep what little relationship he had with the Watcher’s Council in tact, play nice, he supposed. Jenny was out for the night, searching the cemeteries on the eastern side of town, while Faith and Buffy checked the western ones. It gave them all a good excuse to avoid Mrs. Post. If only Giles could be so lucky.

“Finding the Glove of Myhnegon is of the utmost urgency. Yet Buffy's attitude toward it is most casual. And your ability to influence her seems negligible. I can see why the Council of Watchers is concerned. Then there is the matter of your adoption of Americana. The American books, American attitude, American girlfriend.”

“Romani,” he said.

“Pardon?”

“Jenny is Romani, and born in Romania. Not American.”

“Nevertheless, you have gotten too soft with your slayer. She seems quite out of control,” said Mrs. Post.

“I can assure you that Buffy is both dedicated and industrious. I am in complete control of-”

Xander burst into the house.

“Giles. We have a big problem. It’s Buffy,” he said.

Giles was frozen for a brief moment. Then he offered Mrs. Post an apologetic smile that looked more like a grimace and pulled Xander into the other room.

“Xander, this had better be impor-”

“Angel’s back,” said Xander. 

Yes, that qualified as pretty damn important.

Xander continued, “I went to Restfield Cemetery to stake out the crypt and he came walking out of the crypt, just alive as he can be. Well, maybe not alive-alive, but vampire-alive. He had the thing with him, the Glove.”

Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

“He’s back,” was all he said.

“Oh, and there’s more. I followed him. I wanted to see what he was up to, and it turns out what he was up to was Buffy. They met up and got real friendly in the old Crawford mansion.”

Giles looked like he might be ill.

“Oh, and is Jenny here? We ran into each other in the cemetery and she saw him, too, but she ran off,” said Xander.

“I have to find her,” said Giles. “Can you inform Willow and the others? This is - I can’t even think about what this is. I need to get Jenny.”

Giles led them out of the room to find Mrs. Post still sitting by the kitchen.

“Need any assistance?” she asked.

“Thank you, that won’t be necessary,” said Giles through gritted teeth. “We just have a small matter to attend to, so if you don’t mind…” He gestured for her to leave.

***

Giles found Jenny at Ashfield Cemetery, sitting on her tombstone. The morgue had buried an empty coffin after her body had “been misplaced.” It was standard protocol. And it gave her a place to go when she was feeling particularly morbid. She was shaking a little when he approached.

“Xander told me,” Giles said, pulling her into a hug. She clung to him and he stroked her hair. She trembled even more. 

“I don’t know how to feel. Part of me wants to go out and kill him and the other part just wants to lock myself in our room and never come out.”

“Both are understandable,” he said.

“Why did he have to come back?” she asked. He didn’t have answers for her. He had to tell her about Buffy, but he waited until they went back at the house. At first she didn’t say anything. Then she stood up, went up to their room, and curled up on the bed like she was trying to make herself as small as possible. Giles didn’t know how to make it better, so he just lay down next to her.

***

Angel was arranging the ingredients out on a table when he heard a noise behind him. He turned and saw Jenny standing in the mansion. The last time they had stood together in this room they had both been soulless monsters plotting ways to hurt each other. Now they had souls, but Jenny still looked like she would love to hurt him. Not that he could blame her.

“Jenny,” said Angel, when he saw her. It was hard to look her in the eye.

“I-” he began.

“Shut up. You don’t get to talk. And I don’t want your apology. I just came here to tell you that you how angry I am. You scared me more than I have ever been scared, you stole my future from me, you made me kill people, torture them, torture the man I love. And I don’t forgive you. And we are not ok.”

He stood still, taking her accusations like slaps to his face. He looked down and nodded. She was breathing hard.

“What are doing?” she asked when she noticed the assortment of powders he had laid out.

“I’m making living flame. To destroy the Glove of Myhnegon,” he said.

“Don’t forget the argan oil,” she said. 

“Thanks,” he said, but she was already leaving.

***

Jenny went back to the house. The red message light was blinking on the phone, so she hit the button to play it.

“Hi, Ms. Calendar, it’s Xander. I went to the library and found Giles there unconscious. Something hit him on the head hard. The ambulance came and got him, so he’s at the hospital now. I have to go, bye.”

Jenny was out the door before she heard the end of the message.

***

Buffy was ready to land a solid punch on Faith’s face, when a crack of thunder stopped her. Faith stopped, as well. The thunder was coming from inside the Crawford mansion. They went back inside. Mrs. Post stood with her arm raised, wearing the Glove of Myhnegon. 

“What’s going on?” asked Faith.

“Faith, a word of advice. You’re an idiot,” said Mrs. Post. She raised the glove and yelled something in another language. Lightning crashed through the skylight, sending shards of glass falling to the floor, and passed through the glove before shooting towards Faith. Buffy tackled her out of the way. The lightning hit one of the trees outside and caused it to explode in a burst of flame.

Mrs. Post turned to Willow next. She said the same words and the lightning arced toward Willow. Angel pushed Willow out of the way, but caught part of the lightning bolt with his arm. Willow yanked a tapestry from the wall and used it to pat out the flames on his arm.

“Can you draw her fire?” asked Buffy.

“That I can,” said Faith. The previous hesitation was gone from her voice.

Faith darted across the living room and Mrs. Post shot another lightning bolt at her. Faith managed to flip up a coffee table to block the blast. Buffy grabbed a broken shard of glass from the floor, a large one. She hurled it, sent it spinning through the air, and it connected with Mrs. Post’s arm, severing it cleanly. The glove and the arm within fell to the floor.

Mrs. Post screamed and grabbed her bloody stump. She looked up at Buffy with a hateful rage on her face. Faith stood up from behind the burnt wreckage of the coffee table. Mrs. Post turned and ran out the door. There was the sound of a snarl and Mrs. Post was tackled back into the mansion by Jenny. Mrs. Post screamed, but not for long. Jenny stood up. Her hands were bloody.

“She almost killed Rupert,” Jenny said, when she saw everyone staring at her.

Angel came over to look at the body. 

“I’ll take care of this,” he said, gesturing to the remains of Mrs. Post.

“Is Giles ok?” asked Willow, her voice was a little squeakier than usual.

“He will be,” said Jenny. She stepped away from Angel and gave Buffy a look of disappointment that almost made Buffy feel jealous of Mrs. Post. 

***

Buffy knocked on the door to Giles’ house. She probably should have waited until nightfall but she needed to see both Jenny and Giles, who was newly out of the hospital after his encounter with Mrs. Post. Giles answered the door. He had a bandage on the side of his head, but he looked alright.

“How are you feeling?” Buffy asked.

“Oh, a little worse for wear, but I’ll live,” he said.

“Giles, I’m sorry. I should never have lied to you about Angel,” she said.

“No, you shouldn’t,” he said, but he didn’t sound particularly angry. “Jenny’s upstairs,” he added.

“How mad is she?” asked Buffy.

“Not at all mad, but extremely hurt.”

Buffy expected that. She climbed the stairs and let herself into the dark bedroom. Jenny was sitting on the bed reading something. She stayed quiet when Buffy entered.

“I just wanted to say how sorry I am,” Buffy said.

“Now’s not really a good time, Buffy.”

“Sorry, I just need you to know that I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I just, I don’t know. I should have told you right away. It was selfish of me.”

“I’d just like to be alone,” said Jenny.

Buffy nodded, getting a little teary eyed and starting to leave.

“Hey,” said Jenny. Buffy turned back to her.

“I’m going to forgive you, Buffy. I just need a little time.”

Buffy could live with that.


	8. Amends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Angel is haunted by the First Evil, an ancient power that manifests itself as the people Angel has killed. The First tries to drive Angel crazy and convince him to kill Buffy and lose his soul again. Instead Angel attempts suicide. Buffy manages to stop the First and save Angel. Then it snows.

Buffy filled Willow and Xander in on the latest Angel weirdness at school. She had run into him the night before, but he had been beyond distracted and then had run off without a word.

“Maybe you should tell Giles,” Willow suggested.

“No, I don’t want to bug him. He’s still pretty twitchy about the subject of Angel,” said Buffy.

“Must be that whole Angel turned his girlfriend into a vampire and tortured him thing. Giles can be petty about stuff like that,” said Xander.

“Xander, enough,” said Buffy. She didn’t need his sarcasm right now. And Giles and Jenny’s disappointment in her was still a bit of a fresh wound. She’d figure it out later, she decided. 

***

Somehow in the middle of finding a Christmas tree, Buffy’s mom had managed to invite Faith over again for dinner, this time for Christmas Eve. That woman was the queen of the guilt trip. Buffy wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with another night of Joyce fawning over Faith and pushing Buffy to go to college across the country. At least not alone.

“What’s about Giles and Jenny? He doesn’t have any family and hers is visiting Romania this year,” suggested Buffy.

“No, I’m sure they’re fine,” said Joyce without a moment’s pause.

“We could at least ask them.”

“They want to spend Christmas Eve alone,” said Joyce. And that was the end of it. Buffy sighed and went to look at the Christmas trees on the other side of the lot.

***

Giles seemed to be in good spirits when he answered the door, but those spirits dropped as soon as he saw who was knocking.

“Hello,” said Giles stiffly.

“I'm-I'm sorry to bother you,” said Angel. 

Giles couldn’t help but to laugh. “I'm sorry. Coming from you, that phrase strikes me as funny. ‘Sorry to bother me.’”

“I need your help,” said Angel.

“And the funny keeps on coming.”

“I understand that I have no right to ask for it, but... there's no one else. Will you at least hear me out?”

“Alright.”

Whatever Giles was cooking in the kitchen began to sizzle and he went to check on it.

“Um, I can’t come in unless you invite me,” Angel called.

Giles returned with a crossbow in hand.

“I’m aware of that,” he said, “Come in.”

Angel stepped inside right as Jenny came downstairs. He flinched a little when he saw her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I’ve been seeing things, having dreams, about the past. It’s like I’m living it again, it’s so vivid,” Angel said.

“Did you dream about me? What you did to me?” she asked. Her voice was steady, though there was just a hint of a satisfied anger.

“Yes,” said Angel. She smiled a little at his discomfort.

“I need to know why I’m here, why I was brought back. I should be in a demon dimension, suffering an eternity of torture,” he said.

“I don’t feel particularly inclined to argue with that,” Giles said at the same time Jenny said, “No arguments here.”

“Why was I freed?” Angel asked, though he didn’t seem like he was exactly speaking to them.

Giles lowered the crossbow.

“Well, I haven't any easy answers. I've looked into the matter, but so far I haven't come across any being with the power to pull someone out of Hell. Would knowing why you’re back give you some peace of mind?” asked Giles.

“It might,” said Angel.

“And you deserve that?” asked Jenny.

Angel went tense. At first she thought it was because of her words, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at something just beyond Giles.

“To be blunt, the last time you became complacent about your existence, it turned out rather badly,” Giles was saying.

“I killed you,” he said, but again, not looking at either Jenny or Giles.

“You did,” said Jenny, frowning. 

“What are you staring at?” Giles asked.

“Don’t you see her?” asked Angel.

“Jenny? Of course I see her.”

Angel seemed frozen in place, his eyes still focused on something behind Giles. There was nothing back there but an old bookshelf. “Margaret,” whispered Angel. He turned and ran out of the house.

“That was odd,” said Giles.

Jenny stared at the open doorway for a long moment. 

“I wish you hadn’t invited him in,” she said.

“I’m sorry. If I’m honest, a part of me wanted an excuse to shoot him,” he said, setting down the crossbow.

“I’ll get the disinvitation supplies ready, but I need you to set up the crosses,” she said.

“Alright, just let me finish dinner. Or breakfast, in your case.”

***

Giles was the only one awake in the library when Jenny arrived. Xander was asleep in a chair with his head tipped back and his mouth wide open. Willow was curled up in the office with a book in her lap. And Buffy was sleeping fitfully in the balcony bookshelves. Jenny touched Giles lightly on the shoulder to let him know she was there. She didn’t want to wake Willow.

“Can I help?” she asked in a soft voice.

He nodded and handed her a book. She opened it and began reading about the various hell dimensions. After a few minutes Giles waved her over, having found something in a stack of papers. He went out of the office as Buffy was coming down the stairs.

“Buffy, take a look. These letters contain references to an ancient power known as the First Evil. Older than humans and even demons. It is a force that transcends all realities, all dimensions, and if focused, could have had the power to bring Angel back,” said Giles. He was so focused on his research that he didn’t really take a good look at Buffy, but Jenny did.

“Bad dream?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah,” said Buffy.

“About Angel?” asked Giles.

“Yes, and-” Buffy caught sight of a drawing on one of the letters. “And these guys,” she said, pointing to the image of a man with strange markings where his eyes should be.

“That’s one of High Priests of the First, also known as the Bringers or the Harbingers. They can conjure spirit manifestations of the First, set them on people. Influence them, haunt them,” he said.

“Angel certainly seemed haunted last night,” said Jenny.

“You saw him?” asked Buffy.

“He came by our house,” said Jenny. She paused for a second, realizing what she had just said. Buffy and Giles seemed far too focused on the First to notice. When had she started to think of it as her house, as well? She shook her head. Not the time. Evil to fight.

“You can’t fight the First Evil, Buffy. It’s not a physical being,” said Giles.

“I can fight the priests,” Buffy said.

***

“Jenny, come to the window,” Giles called. She frowned, expecting to see some horrible demon or other standing outside the house. Instead, she saw chunky snowflakes falling from the dark sky. She grabbed Giles’ hand and pulled him out.

“I haven’t seen snow since I was a child,” she said. She fell to her knees and scooped up a handful of the stuff, laughing to herself.

“How long has it been for you?” she asked him.

“Not since I left England,” he said.

She jumped back up and ran across the courtyard, letting the flakes fall over her hair and face. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Giles bending down to touch the snow. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of it. And then she was hit in the face by a large snowball.

She opened her eyes and raised her eyebrows at him.

“Oh, you don’t want to fight me, England,” she said. He was already making his second snowball. She ran to him and knocked him into the snow as gently as she could. He shoved his snowball in her face and she put a handful of snow down the back of his shirt. He yelped at the cold and she laughed harder than she had in a long time.

Eventually they quieted and he lay back in the snow. She rested her cheek on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“I suppose Buffy has thwarted the First Evil,” he said.

“Good,” said Jenny.

“Happy Christmas, Jenny.”

“Happy Four-Days-After-Winter-Solstice,” said the technopagan.


	9. Gingerbread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Joyce finds two dead children in the park who seem to have been murdered in a ritual sacrifice. She blames the crime on witches and founds Mothers Opposed to the Occult (MOO), a fanatical organization meant to find and destroy all witchcraft and the witches themselves. The Scoobies discover that the dead kids are actually just a demon's trick to incite violence and turmoil. The demon convinces Joyce and the other parents to try to burn Buffy, Willow, and Amy at the stake, but Giles and Cordelia save the day.

There was a knock on the door in the early evening. 

“I’ll get it,” called Jenny. Giles paused the movie they had been watching. 

She opened it and found the last person she wanted to see standing outside.

“Hi Jenny,” said Angel.

She crossed her arms.

“I know you don’t want me to apologize to you yet, but I was hoping you’d let me thank you,” he said.

“Thank me?” asked Jenny.

“What you did, finding the ritual to restore our souls, I can’t tell you how indebted I am to you. Without you, I would still be a sadistic monster. And I want you to know, that I won’t take it for granted. Ever.” He paused, giving her a chance to say something. She didn’t.

“And I am sorry,” he said, and he turned and left.

***

The library looked so incomplete after the raid, when police officers and school officials had swarmed in and confiscated all of Giles’ occult books. The bookshelves had large gaping holes, as only the “school appropriate” books were left behind, and they seemed to be quite few and far between. The space felt a little larger with so much missing from it. Giles himself looked almost small as he sat at the computer in the center of the room.

“ Session interrupted? Who said you could interrupt? Stupid, useless fad! That's right! I said fad! And I'll say it again,” he yelled at the computer.

“Hey, I don’t come in here and yell at your books, do I?” asked Jenny.

He looked up a little sheepishly.

“I’m glad you’re here. I can’t get this confounded thing to work properly,” he said.

Jenny leaned over his shoulder, trying to see what he had been working on, but she couldn’t really make sense of it either. She nudged him and he moved to the next chair over, so that she could sit at the computer.

“Ok, what are you trying to do?” she asked.

“I’m looking for any information on the two murdered children and the symbol that Buffy found on their hands. Willow said it was a protective symbol. Do you know it?” he asked, pointing to a piece of paper with a drawing on it. It looked like a triangle with a squiggle through it.

“She’s right. It’s called the Aestignis, the summer fire. It would never be used in a ritual sacrifice or anything like that. Unless the sacrificer was a complete poser. Or maybe someone knew the kids were in danger and did a protection spell?” she said.

“Perhaps.”

“Good news and bad news, G-man,” said Xander, as he and Oz came into the room. Giles gave him a glare for the nickname.

“We found your books, but they’re locked in city hall,” said Oz.

“What have you crazy kids found?” asked Xander.

“Not much,” admitted Giles.

Buffy walked in then, looking like a woman on a mission.

“Those kids, what do we know about them?” she asked.

“Oh, they-” Xander began.

“Well,” said Giles.

They all stopped, thinking hard.

“They were found in the park,” was all that Xander could come up with.

“Where’d they go to school? Who are their parents? What are their names?” Buffy asked.

“I guess it just never came up,” said Oz.

“The police report just says a boy and a girl were found dead at Ramsey Park. Nothing else about who they were,” said Jenny, reading off the computer screen.

“Right, we know everything about their deaths, but we don’t even know their names. And where did the pictures of them come from?” said Buffy.

“I assumed someone had the details. I never- it’s very strange,” said Giles.

“Jenny, we need more information,” said Buffy, going to stand behind her.

Jenny began searching through the internet for school records of the children in Sunnydale and the surrounding towns, but came up with nothing. Then she started investigating the death itself.

“Here’s something,” she said.

“Two children, found dead, mysterious mark. But they were found in Omaha in 1949,” said Giles, reading over her shoulder.

Jenny clicked to pull up a photo of the victims. They were the exact same kids, unchanged in the course of fifty years. Jenny pulled up another article, this one from 1899, which described to children, a girl and a boy, killed by witches. She kept finding more and more, all the way back to 1649. Every fifty years they would happen. It was always a young boy and girl, whose names were never mentioned in the reports, and the local communities were always torn apart by suspicion following the deaths.

“Wait, the oldest account, 1649, does mention their names. Greta Strauss, age six, and her brother Hans, were found dead in the Black Forest.

“Greta and Hans Strauss,” said Giles. He seemed to realize something and headed toward the bookshelves, before remembering that his books were gone. “There's a fringe theory held by a few folklorists that some regional stories have actual, very literal antecedents,” he said, trying to remember everything without the book.

“English, please?” said Buffy.

“Fairy tales are real,” Oz translated.

“Hans and Greta. Hansel and Gretel!” said Buffy.

“There are demons that thrive on fostering persecution and hatred among the mortal animals. Not on destroying men, but on watching them destroy each other. They feed us our darkest fears, and turn peaceful communities into vigilantes,” said Giles.

“Every single one of these accounts say that the deaths of the children were followed by a violent witch hunt. Members of the community suspected of witchcraft were rounded up and often burned at the stake. And one of our favorite people happens to dabble in some witchcraft,” said Jenny.

“Willow,” said Oz, jumping to his feet.

“Oz, you and Xander-” started Buffy, but they were already out the door.

“We need to find my mom,” said Buffy to Jenny and Giles.

***

The living room was absolutely packed with members of MOO (Mothers Opposed to the Occult) . It hadn’t been that crowded since Buffy’s welcome home party - before it had been crashed by zombies, of course. Each person was holding one of the “Never Again” signs with the pictures of the two children.

“Buffy, has something happened?” asked Joyce.

“Mom, can we talk somewhere?” Buffy asked, nodding toward the kitchen and away from the living room.

“Sure, honey,” said Joyce. She said something to the MOO members about continuing without her and came out to the hallway.

Buffy started to talk when one of the men suddenly grabbed Giles and pulled him back into the living room, holding a white cloth over his mouth. Jenny lunged at them, but two more men grabbed her and pushed her to the floor. She felt a cloth pressed against her mouth and out of the corner of her eye she could see Joyce holding one over Buffy’s. Jenny kicked and thrashed, but she now had two people holding down her arms and two on her legs.

“It isn’t working,” one of them said to Joyce.

Joyce stared at the staircase for a moment and then said, “Vampires don’t breathe. We’ll just have to pour it down her throat.”

A fifth person came up and pulled Jenny’s mouth open. She snapped at him, but he tried again, this time holding her lips, so she couldn’t bite him. Joyce opened a brown bottle and poured the liquid into Jenny’s mouth. The man quickly forced her mouth shut and held his hand over it so she couldn’t spit. The liquid burned at first, but then her throat and mouth went numb. She felt dizzy, so dizzy. The figures above her went blurry and then completely dark.

***

Jenny woke up standing on a pile of books and tied to a stake. She felt pretty woozy, but she also knew that she didn’t have time to feel woozy. A man was dumping gasoline onto the books and other people were standing in front of her with torches. Joyce was at the front of the crowd, next to a redheaded woman who Jenny vaguely recognized from a parent-teacher night. Willow’s mother, she remembered.

“Ms. Calendar, you’re awake!” came Willow’s voice. Jenny looked over to see Willow and Buffy tied to stakes on her left and Amy to her right. Buffy was thrashing in her ropes, but couldn’t break them.

“Can you get out?” Buffy asked.

Jenny tried to kick, but her legs were bound so tight she couldn’t move them an inch. She threw her head back to try and headbutt the stake, but that hurt her more than the wood.

“I don’t think so,” she said.

“Alright, you want to burn a witch? I’ll give you a witch!” yelled Amy. Her eyes filled with black and she began chanting to the goddess Hecate. Gold light swirled around her and then she disappeared. They heard a squeaking sound and saw a rat scamper away from where Amy had been standing.

“She couldn’t do us first?” asked Buffy.

Willow tried to pick up where Amy had left off with the threatening.

“Yes, behold my, uh, my great power. Tremble before me,” Willow said, her voice shaking a little in fear. A few of the MOO crowd were nervous enough after Amy and moved closer to the door. Buffy began yelling her own threats about turning people into fish. Jenny morphed into her vamp face and roared at them. Several people screamed and ran out the door. Joyce and Willow’s mother stayed still and calm, however. They approached the stakes together and lit the pyre of books.

Buffy thrashed more desperately on her stake, trying the break herself free of the bindings. Willow began to whimper as the flames crept up toward her shoes. Jenny could feel the heat growing more intense and smell the smoke. If she had to breathe, she was sure she would be coughing and sputtering from it all. Through the rippling and hazy air above the flames, Jenny thought she saw Giles and Cordelia creeping along the back of the room. She watched Cordelia smash the glass of a fire hose case and pull out the hose. Giles began chanting in German and Cordelia turned on the hose, blasting the MOO members off their feet.

“Cordelia, put the fire out!” Buffy yelled.

Cordelia aimed the hose and doused the pyre in water, soaking the books and everyone standing on and around the pyre. She looked pleased with herself. Giles continued chanting, holding up a glass vial and throwing it to shatter on the floor. Steam hissed up from the broken potion and suddenly the two dead children from the park were standing there. They turned to each other, hugged, and morphed into a hulking and ogrish demon.

“Protect us! Kill them!” the demon yelled in a deep rumble of a voice.

Joyce and the other MOO members cowered away from the monster. The demon turned to Buffy, who lurched forward, this time managing to break the stake. She was still tied to it like a shish kabob, but she was able to lean forward and aim the sharpened end of the stake toward the demon. He ran at her and ended up impaling himself.

“Did I get it?” Buffy asked, unable to twist her head enough to see.

“You go-” Jenny started, but then Oz and Xander came crashing through the ceiling. They landed on the books, covered in dust and groaning a little from the fall.

“We’re here to save you,” said Oz.

***

“Ready to try again?” Jenny asked.

“Let’s do it. I think we got the mix of herbs right this time,” said Willow. She reached out and scratched Amy the rat gently behind the ears.

Buffy took a pinch of the rat’s hair and dropped into the dish of herbs. Willow lit a match and set the mixture on fire.

“Hecate! I hereby license thee to depart. Goddess of creatures great and small - I conjure thee to withdraw!" said Willow.

They waited a moment. Amy the rat squeaked and wiggled her whiskers.

“I’ll call my cousin,” said Jenny.

***

“They shared with us their knowledge, their wisdom, and their comfort, but their time has come and now they must rest. For it has pleased the higher power to take our beloved, we therefore commit these volumes to the ground. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

“Well said, Giles,” said Xander, patting him on the back.

“Here, here,” said Willow.

Buffy bent over and hit play on the boombox. “Oh, Danny Boy” began to rise up from the speakers and they all bent their heads solemnly. Jenny picked up a shovel and scooped up load of dirt, tossing it into the grave. Xander grabbed the second shovel and began to help her. 

Willow said something softly to Giles.

“They were just...such good books,” he said.

They paused a moment, looking down into the grave, filled with the scorched and ruined remains of the books, and then got back to work burying them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun little episode before we get into the angst of "Helpless"


	10. Helpless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Buffy is turning 18, and when Slayers turn 18, they are tested with the Cruciamentum. She must face a vampire without powers and defeat it in order to pass the test. Giles gives her a sort of poison that takes about her powers, but then feels guilty and warns her about the test. The vampire manages to escape and takes Joyce hostage. Buffy, in her weakened state, goes to save her mom, and kills the vampire using her wits. She passes the test, but Giles does not and is fired from the Watcher's Council.

“You don’t feel hot,” said Jenny, pressing the back of her hand to Buffy’s forehead. She wasn’t entirely sure she was doing it right, but it was something she’d seen people do in movies.

“Did you hit your head?” Jenny asked.

“I hit my head almost every week. It’s never caused me to get all weak and dizzy before,” said Buffy.

“Maybe you should just take it easy. I can check the graveyards tonight.”

“Thanks.”

“Ready, Buffy?” asked Giles, carrying a box full of crystals.

“Rupert, are you sure she should train tonight?” asked Jenny.

“We won’t do anything too strenuous,” he assured her.

“Stop by later, if you can,” said Buffy.

“Yes, but call first if you could. We’re trying a new meditative technique and it requires extreme concentration.” Giles shifted his box and the crystals clacked together.

“To the library,” said Buffy, trying to keep her spirits up.

***

“So how’s Amy the rat?” asked Buffy the next day at school. Her training session with Giles had been pretty much a bust the night before. She just wasn’t feeling like herself.

“Good! I got her an exercise wheel, and when she runs, her little nose wiggles and it’s just the cutest thing,” said Willow.

“I meant how’s the changing her back into a human going?”

“Oh, right. Ms. Calendar called her cousin, but apparently she went on a trip to Mexico and we can’t get a hold of her. I haven’t had any luck on my own. I got her the cutest little bell, though!”

***

Giles’ email was far too easy to hack. Jenny would have to teach him how to put up better safeguards, but it served her current purposes well. She felt a little guilty violating his trust, but with Buffy feeling so ill and Giles acting so strange, she just couldn’t help herself. Most of it was spam mail that he hadn’t yet deleted - she would have to show him how to do that, as well. There was, however, one opened letter from someone called Quentin Travers that looked interesting. She clicked on it.

“Dear Mr. Giles, We will arrive in two days time for the Tento di Cruciamentum. The adversary will be Zachary Kralik. Start the compound treatment tomorrow.”

Jenny went online and began searching for everything she could find on Zachary Kralik and the Cruciamentum. There was plenty of information on Kralik, mostly police reports and new articles about the women he had murdered. The Cruciamentum was more elusive, but she found a few mentions of it. Giles came home in the middle of her research. He seemed upset and didn’t notice that she was on his email.

“What the hell is this?” she asked. She tried to keep her voice steady, but was failing rather spectacularly.

He looked over and saw what she was doing.

“Jenny, I-”

“What did you do?”

“It’s a test, one that every slayer must face. The Watcher’s Council-”

“I don’t give a shit about the Council, Rupert! What did you do to Buffy?” She was fully yelling at him then.

He didn’t yell back. His voice was quiet and ashamed. 

“I gave her an organic compound that caused her to lose her slayer strength and reflexes. But we don’t have time to fight about this right now. The vampire she was meant to face has escaped from his holding cell. I went there only to find a dead man on the floor. The vampire had gone.”

“Where’s Buffy?” Jenny asked.

“Cordelia took her home.”

Jenny grabbed a stake and her car keys and ran out the door. She heard Giles call her name, but she didn’t turn back. She drove rather recklessly to Buffy’s house and nearly broke the front door down when she got there.

“Buffy? Joyce?” She called, but no one answered. She walked through the downstairs of the house and then ran up to Buffy’s room. The drawers and weapons chest were thrown open and there was a polaroid picture of a terrified Joyce being held by a grinning vampire on the bed. Jenny picked it and turned it over.

“Come,” it said in capital letters. Beneath was an address on Prescott Street.

***

Kralik bent over in pain, grabbing his head. He took out a pill bottle and began fumbling to get the lid off. Buffy saw her opportunity and snatched the pills out of his hands. She saw a laundry chute and dove down it, head first. She landed hard at the bottom.

“Buffy?” asked Joyce. She was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. There was a bang from above them. Buffy ran around the room, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. All she had was a bottle of holy water. She stopped. There was a glass of water on a table in the corner. She looked down at the pill bottle in her hand.

The door came flying off its hinges and Kralik entered, screaming for his pills. He lurched forward and grabbed Buffy, ripping the pills from her grasp. He dumped the whole bottle into his mouth and downed the glass of water to wash them down.

“You almost got away, little girl. You almost-” He stopped. His expression changed.

“What did you…?” he asked.

Buffy held up the bottle of holy water, now empty. The vampire looked at her in horror for a moment and then he disintegrated from the inside out. Buffy ran over to untie her mother. They were not left in peace for long, as another vampire, on of Kralik’s protegés ran into the room. He was only on his feet for a moment, though, before he was tackled by both Angel and Jenny. The vampire shrieked beneath them and disappeared into ash.

“Where’s Kralik?” asked Jenny. Buffy pointed to the spot where Kralik had died.

Angel tore Joyce’s bindings apart and helped her stand. Jenny went to help Buffy, who had a nasty cut on her forehead. Buffy wanted nothing more than to go home and try to forget this day, but the Watcher’s Council had other plans.

***

Jenny hadn’t wanted to leave Buffy, but she also wasn’t sure she wanted the Council to know what she was. If they didn’t know already, that is. She and Angel had left pretty quickly when the horrible Mr. Travers arrived with Giles and insisted on speaking to Buffy. Angel had kept his head down, trying not to be noticed, but Travers didn’t seem too interested in either of them, so they slipped away.

“This isn’t how I expected to spend my night. Allying with you and furious with Rupert,” she said, as she drove Angel back to the mansion.

“I’m glad you came to me,” he said.

“Even though Buffy did fine on her own.”

“Yeah, she’s a capable girl.”

There was an awkward silence between them. She pulled up to the mansion.

“Are we, um, ok?” he asked, not getting out.

“Nope, not even close. But I suppose a little closer than we were last week. Now get out.”

He did and gave her a small smile as he said goodnight.

Jenny wasn’t sure she wanted to go home, thinking that maybe she should check into the Lone Pines Motel for the night. Her curiosity won out, however. She wanted to know how the conversation with Travers and Buffy went.

Rupert wasn’t home yet, so she waited for him. When he came in, he headed straight to the fridge and put a bag of frozen peas on his hand. She walked up behind him.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Buffy passed her test,” he said.

“And you were so elated that you punched a wall?”

He looked down at his hand and gingerly stretched his fingers.

“No, not a wall. This was due to the unsurprisingly thick skull of Quentin Travers,” he said.

“You punched him?”

“He fired me.”

“Before or after?” she asked.

“Before. But that’s not why I hit him.”

“Is Buffy ok?”

“No, but I think she will be, in time. I’m going to make this up to her.”

“Good,” said Jenny, then, “I think I’ll go to bed.”

There were still hours of darkness left, but Giles didn’t question her.

“Should I assume I’m sleeping on the couch tonight?” Giles asked as she turned and started walking up the stairs.

“Oh, I’d say so. Especially now that you’re a deadbeat with no job.”

“I’m still a librarian,” he called up the stairs.


	11. The Zeppo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: This is kind of an odd episode. Buffy and the gang (minus Xander) are dealing with the end of the world. Some demons called the Sisterhood of Jhe are trying to open the Hellmouth and release the beast. We don't actually see much of this plot, however. Instead, the episode follows Xander as he stops zombies from blowing up the school and learns self-confidence.

Jenny heard Oz howling from down the hallway. She had to wait until the sun was fully down, so he was already fully turned into a werewolf by the time she showed up. He seemed particularly agitated tonight. Most nights around the full moon, he was pretty chill for a werewolf. He would just pace a little and then go to sleep.

“Reporting for Oz watch,” she said, entering the library.

Both Buffy and Giles looked distressed and Oz howled again.

“What? What’s happening?” she asked.

“The, um, world is ending,” said Giles.

***

Jenny sat cross legged in a circle of candles, chanting in Latin. Across from her sat Giles, holding up the book she was reading from. Mist rose from the ground of the cemetery, swirling around them and beginning, slowly, to take shape. A deep voice boomed out, originating from a nearby crypt. It spoke in Latin, but they both understood. It was denying them access to the secrets of the spirits. 

“No mortal may be granted this knowledge,” the voice said, and the mist dissipated.

“I’m not mortal, you know,” Jenny shouted at the voice. It didn’t respond.

Giles sighed and shut the book.

Xander pulled up to the edge of the cemetery then, driving a flashy blue car. They had been trying to keep him away from the upcoming apocalypse, keep him safe, so they were surprised to see him, especially with the odd group of boys in his car. Xander got out and approached them.

“Hey Giles, Ms. Calendar. What going on?” he asked. He seemed a little nervous and weird, but then again, when was he not that way?

“We’re trying to get information from the spirits. Not going very well, I’m afraid. What are you doing here?” Giles asked.

“Just out raising some heck,” said Xander, with faux enthusiasm.

One of the boys sitting in Xander’s car shouted something. Jenny had thought they looked strange, but now she could smell them.

“Well, I’d better go. Unless you all need help?” said Xander, a hint of hope in his voice.

“No, no, you go off with your friends,” said Giles. He had reopened the book and was not really listening to Xander.

“You know they’re dead, don’t you, Xander?” Jenny asked, nodding to the car full of zombies.

“I do. Thanks. Well, I guess I’ll just...” he trailed off and walked back to his car. 

“We should try again,” said Giles, still reading. He looked up at Jenny then and asked, “Dead?”

“He’ll be fine. We need to save the world.”

***

How they had managed to kill the Beast was beyond them. It made the Master look like a pesky playground bully. And its face - its real face, that is - was something that Jenny would never forget. What was more, they had all survived it. They were bruised and battered, and Angel had taken one of the nastiest blows, but they had all pulled through.

Jenny traced her fingers gently over a bruise on Giles’ cheek as they lay in bed together after the battle.

“That was brave what you did,” she said.

“I think you mean stupid,” he said with a halfhearted chuckle.

“You did scare me, but I was proud, too. That you would risk-” She started tearing up and he kissed her. They soon broke apart, however, because their split lips made kissing rather painful.

“I don’t think anything will ever be the same,” said Jenny.


	12. Bad Girls

“He is absolutely insufferable,” Giles exclaimed, expressing the sentiment for the third time that night. The new watcher, one Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, was all Giles could talk about at dinner and all he could continue to talk about as he paced around the bedroom. Jenny sat on the bed, leaning on her hand and trying to appear appropriately sympathetic.

“He faced two vampires ‘under controlled circumstances’ and he thinks he knows everything about them. Do you know what I said to him, though, I said-”

“That he wouldn’t find any controlled circumstances in Sunnydale,” Jenny finished for him.

“Ah, um, yes. I told you that part already.”

“Whether or not you are Buffy’s official Watcher, you know that you’ll always be the one she turns to for help. This new guy will puff out his chest a bit at first, but we’ll teach him how we do things in Sunnydale. Besides,” Jenny said, laying back on the bed, “I bet his girlfriend isn’t as hot as yours.” She arched her back a little.

Giles stopped pacing and watched her. He had to agree.

***

Jenny crouched with Angel and Buffy outside the old warehouse. Looking through the windows they could see Giles and Wesley with their hands tied behind their backs. They counted six vampires total and one lumpish demon sitting in a hot tub in the center of the room. Not bad odds, depending on how powerful this demon was. He didn’t seem to be very mobile.

“Angel, you sneak in the back. We’ll wait for your signal. Then, Jenny, you go through the side window and I’ll come in through the front,” said Buffy. They nodded and split up. Jenny pressed her ear to the window and she could just hear the conversation going on inside. Wesley was whimpering something, offering up information from the sound of it, and Giles was trying to shush him.

“ Tell you what. Let Captain Courageous go and I'll tell you what you want to know. How's that deal?” asked Giles. Jenny smiled.

“There is one deal! You will die slowly or you will die quickly! The man who has my amulet, what is his name?” shrieked the hot tub demon. His patience seemed to be at its end.

“His name is Angel,” said Angel, striding into the room. Soul or no soul, he was so dramatic. Jenny rolled her eyes a little, but then she jumped through the window. She supposed she couldn’t complain too much about Angel’s theatrics after her own entrance. Buffy burst through the front door and she and Angel lunged for two of the vampires. The vampire standing closest to Giles drew his sword and Wesley screamed. Giles knocked Wesley out of the way and Jenny kicked the vampire, causing him to drop his sword. She grabbed it and quickly cut Giles free.

“Hi, sweetie,” she said with a wide grin.

“Your timing is impeccable,” said Giles.

“Sweetie?” asked Wesley, looking shocked at her vamp face.

Jenny tossed Giles the sword and they pulled Wesley away from the fighting. Two vampires ran toward them and Jenny and Giles stood back to back, covering each other as the vampires attacked. Giles dueled one sword to sword, while Jenny punched and kicked the other. She pulled a stake from her sleeve and killed her vampire. She turned and kicked Giles’ vampire in the ankle, stunning him long enough for Giles to lop off his head with the sword.

All around they were getting the best of the demon’s vampire cronies. Buffy had taken out one and was beating the stew out of the second. The one Angel was facing seemed to spend more time on the floor than his feet. Then Angel stepped too close to the hot tub demon. The air rippled around Angel and he was pulled off his feet, sucked backwards into the demon’s grasp. The demon had Angel by the head and was squeezing it in a way that made Angel wince with pain. Buffy looked around and noticed a rickety light fixture supported by a rope hanging over the hot tub. She grabbed and cut through the rope that was holding it up. It fell into the water and a surge of electricity went through the demon. He dropped Angel, twitching and thrashing in the tub, until at last he stilled. His skin was burnt and steaming, but he wasn’t quite dead yet. He whispered something that only Buffy could hear and then died.

Jenny went over to Wesley and pulled him to his feet.

“How was you first day in the field?” Giles asked. Wesley sputtered something incoherent.

“Glad to hear it. Well, Wesley this is my girlfriend, Jenny Calendar. Jenny, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, truly a Watcher extraordinaire,” said Giles, clapping Wesley roughly on the back.

“Va-vampires. They’re vampires,” Wesley gasped out, looking from Jenny to Angel.

“Ensouled vampires, so don’t try anything,” said Jenny.

Wesley straightened up a bit, brushing himself off and try to calm himself.

“H-how irregular. Yes, well, I just have to- Yes,” he said.

Jenny grinned. She would never tell Giles, but this new watcher did remind her of him a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wesley arrives!


	13. Doppelgangland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Anya tries to trick Willow into summoning her necklace back from the wish reality. The spell goes wrong, though, and instead they summon Willow's alternate and vampiric self into their own world. Vampire Willow wreaks some havoc at the Bronze. Buffy and the gang manage to stop her, though, and send her back to the wish reality.
> 
> Sorry for the late update. The end of the semester gets really crazy, and I've been super busy with everything. This was kind of a confusing episode to write, with the two Willows and everything, but I hope it turned out ok! There may be some typos, so feel free to let me know!

Jenny’s eyes were growing a bit bleary from staring at the library computer screen. Willow had been trying to hack into the mayor’s computer records earlier that day, and now Jenny was picking up where she left off, but damn if the man didn’t have a ton of firewalls. She typed in another line of code and looked over into Rupert’s office. He was reading some horrible book about evisceration. Not that computer hacking and gory passages weren’t fun, but they really needed a date night. A real date night, with candles and a snooty waiter.

“How’s it going?” asked Rupert, coming out to check on her.

“No luck yet, but I’m making progress. I think.”

He rubbed her back between her shoulders.

Buffy and Xander came running into the library.

“Ah, Buffy, I thought you were going out tonight, didn’t expect…” said Giles, but he trailed off when he saw their faces.

“What is it?” asked Jenny.

“Willow,” was all Buffy managed to get out.

Somehow, between both Buffy and Xander, they managed to tell what they had seen at the Bronze. Willow had been acting strange and dressing in strange clothes, and then she had revealed herself to be a vampire. Willow was dead.

“I’ll go. I’ll see if I can find her and catch her. We can keep her in the library cage until we find a more permanent home for her. And I’ll start looking online for an Orb of Thesulah tomorrow,” Jenny said, nearly frantic. She knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t help it.

“Jenny,” said Giles.

“She saved my soul, Rupert. I have to do the same to her.”

“I know,” he said, “Just be careful.”

***

After Jenny left, Buffy, Xander, and Giles found themselves sitting on the balcony staircase in the library, numb from the shock of it all.

“It’ll be ok, won’t it? I mean she’ll be ok?” asked Buffy. Giles wished he could offer her more comfort.

“Ms. Calendar is - I mean, she’s happy?” said Xander, sounding unsure.

“Yes, for a person who can’t go out during the day, or socialize with people who think she’s dead, or have a family, or eat regular food, I’d say she’s...happy,” said Giles.

They were silent for a long time after that.

“I can’t feel anything. Arms, legs, or anything,” said Buffy.

“She was truly the finest of all of us,” said Giles.

“Way better than me,” said Xander.

“Much, much better,” agreed Giles.

***

Jenny arrived at the Bronze, checking it first just in case Willow was still there. It was usually pretty easy to spot her, with her bright red hair, but there was no sign of her at the club. Jenny wondered if Willow had found a meal and left with it already. Jenny was well aware of the horrible guilt that killing innocent person would cause. Even though the rational part of Jenny’s brain knew that she had been soulless at the time, she still carried the weight of the people she had murdered around with her. She didn’t want Willow to ever have to go through that. She spotted Oz’s band setting up on stage, and then saw Oz, standing to the side and talking to Angel. 

Oh, god, she was going to have to be the one to tell Oz.  _ Maybe Buffy and Giles could form a support group with him: Dating Re-ensouled Vampires Anonymous _ , she thought as she approached the stage.

“Hey, Jenny,” said Oz when he saw her, speaking with his usual relaxed tone.

“Oz,” she said, taking his arm. Angel tensed immediately, knowing from her voice that something was wrong. 

Before Jenny could tell either of them, however, the main door swung open and a tall vampire flanked by two cronies walked into the Bronze. Beside the stage, the back door was flung open and two more walked in. Jenny counted them as they continued coming in, ten vampires, covering all the exits.

“Well, this isn’t good,” said Oz.

“All right, nobody causes any trouble, or tries to leave, and nobody gets hurt,” said the tall vampire. He seemed like the one in charge.

“Why don’t I believe him?” asked Angel.

“Well, he lacks credibility,” said Oz.

“Angel, can you get out?” Jenny asked. Angel glanced around the room, stopping when he looked up at the ceiling.

“Skylight in the roof. I can make it,” he said.

“Get Buffy, I’ll stay here,” she said. Angel nodded and began slipping through the crowd to get up to the second story. 

The vampires all turned to look toward the main door, waiting for something. The door opened and a woman walked in, dressed in tight leather and wearing sinister makeup. It was Willow. Hearing it from Buffy and Xander had been one thing, but seeing it in person was another. Jenny wondered if this is what it had been like for everyone to see her after she became a vampire. 

Oz was frozen in place next to her. Willow went over to a girl at the bar and pulled her to her feet.

“You don't have to be afraid... just to please me. If you're all good boys and girls, we'll make you young and strong for ever and ever. We'll all have fun,” said Willow. Her words were more languid now and her movements more fluid and predatory. The other vampires seemed to show due deference to her, which meant Willow had somehow become their leader. She pulled the girl against her and licked her neck.

“If you're not…” Willow vamped out and bit the girl. Oz lunged forward before Jenny could stop him, but was quickly caught by a vampire, who threw him back onto the stairs of the stage. Jenny put on her own vamp face and grabbed Oz before the vampire could do anything else to him.

“You’re new,” said Willow.

“I was just here for a meal,” said Jenny, holding Oz up by his shirt.

“Good, you work for me now,” said Willow, with a smile that in any other circumstance would be called cute.

“Willow, you don’t want to do this,” said Oz.

“I don’t? But I’m so good at it.”

“Who did this to you?” he asked.

Willow walked toward them, tilting her head like she was remembering Oz for the first time.

“I know you. Why are you talking to me like we’re friends?” asked Willow.

“Because he thinks you’re someone else,” called a woman. Jenny didn’t recognize her, but she looked like a high school student, with light brown hair and a youthful face. She didn’t seem to be a vampire, but she was definitely comfortable around them. She pulled Willow aside, to talk, but Jenny could just barely overhear them. The woman introduced herself as Anya and had the strangest things to say about an alternate reality and multiple Willows. Jenny had heard of parallel realities before, but had never heard of any proof of them beyond the theory.

Then Willow left, ordering all her goons, including Jenny, to guard the Bronze, not let any of the human’s leave, and wait until she returned. When Willow was gone, Jenny set Oz down and moved closer to the other vampires. The humans didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger for now, so she had some time.

“Haven’t seen you around her before,” said one vampire.

“I’m new. So who’s the redhead?” Jenny asked.

“She’s new, too. She beat Alphonse in a fight earlier and convinced him to follow her. And we follow Alphonse, so,” the vampire shrugged.

Jenny never thought of Willow as much of a physical fighter. She was more of a book smarts and magic kind of tough. This Willow didn’t seem to have much of anything in common with their Willow.

“Hey, any chance we could get a little snack before she comes back?” Jenny asked, tilting her head up at the vampire.

“We wait. Alphonse is watching.” He nodded toward the tall vampire that Jenny had originally thought was the leader.

“I bet we could find a human in the bathroom. Out of sight. Cowering and ripe for the taking,” she whispered.

The corner of his mouth flicked up in half a smile. He took her hand and led her back towards the bathroom. The vampires were too busy guarding the doors to pay much attention to the windowless bathroom. They went into the women’s first, a dim, brick room with a dirty mirror. 

“I don’t see anyone. Let’s check the me-” The vampire never got to finish his sentence, however, as Jenny had slipped a stake out of her jacket and stabbed him in the back, killing him instantly. One down, nine to go.

***

Jenny didn’t have much luck with the others. The ones on door duty would never even consider leaving their posts, so she didn’t bother with them. Alphonse and his two closest cronies were off the table, as well. She tried talking to a young looking vampire, who may have been a former student at Sunnydale High. He didn’t recognize her, but he also had no interest in chatting. Jenny went back to sit next to Oz and wait. Hopefully Angel would be back soon with the cavalry.

It wasn’t Angel who got back first, though, it was Willow. Except, she wasn’t acting the way she had been before. When her back was turned to the other vampires and Anya, Willow even gave Jenny and Oz a little wave. 

Willow, real Willow, that is, was still human. Jenny felt the relief flood into her, though it soon left as she realized what a dire situation Willow was still in. She may have been dressed like her vampire doppelganger, but she did an unconvincing job of acting like her. She boasted about killing her human self and did manage send two vampire guards outside from where they never returned, but Jenny could tell that Anya and the vampires were growing suspicious.

“Well, boss, why don’t we get to the killing?” asked Alphonse.

Jenny didn’t think she, Willow, and Oz could take on seven vampires at once. And she still wasn’t sure what Anya was. She slipped her stake into Oz’s hand, and then got up and made her way over to stand behind Willow on the dance floor. Willow was suggesting some plan to give everyone a head start out of the Bronze for a good chase.

“Wait, a minute,” said Anya, a realization crossing her face. 

“Okay, let’s get to the killing. Why don’t we start with her?” Willow said, pointing to Anya. The other vampires didn’t move.

“Why don’t we start with you? Because if she’s a vampire, then I’m a creature from the Black Lagoon,” said Anya. This time the vampires did move, advancing on Willow. Jenny got to her first, grabbing Willow from behind with a snarl. She pushed Willow’s hair back like she was going to bite her. 

“A human. I should have known,” he said.

“Oh yeah, could a human do this?” Willow said, and then she screamed.

“Most humans could, yeah,” said Anya. She turned to Jenny, “Now kill her.”

Jenny leaned into Willow’s neck for a moment and then threw Willow up onto the stage and hopefully out of harm, right as Angel and Buffy kicked down the front door. Chaos erupted in the Bronze. People began screaming and running for the now clear exit. Buffy grabbed Alfonse and started pummeling him, while Angel took on his two cronies. Jenny grabbed a pool cue and snapped it, using it to stake the young vampire who wouldn’t talk to her. Actually, he did look like one of her former students now that she thought about it. Xander and Giles ran in and together managed to kill a vampire. Then Jenny saw Anya heading for the exit. Jenny ran and jumped over a couch to land in front her, and punched her. She went down easy. Jenny picked her up and threw her over her shoulder. Most of the vampires were dead, but up on the stage was one of the strangest scenes Jenny had ever seen. Human Willow in leather was lying on her back with vampire Willow in a pink fuzzy sweater on top of her, trying to bite her.

Buffy jumped on the stage, raising a stake up.

“Buffy, no!” shouted human Willow.

Vampire Willow looked around to see all her goons gone. She let go of human Willow, surrendering.

***

After the fight, human Willow filled them all in on the spell she had performed with Anya, who sometimes went by Anyanka, the patron saint of women scorned. They had attempted to bring a necklace from another universe into their own, but instead they had brought vampire dominatrix Willow into their world. Human Willow didn’t want kill her vampire self, so Jenny and Giles set up a reverse spell to send the vampire back to her own world. There were in an old abandoned factory on the edge of town where vampire Willow had first arrived. The spell didn’t take too long, they clasped hands, did some chanting, and with a flash of light, vampire Willow was gone.

Now that that was taken care of, Jenny turned to their Willow.

“You did a spell with a former vengeance demon to retrieve something from another world?” Jenny asked, crossing her arms.

“Well, I didn’t know she was a vengeance demon,” said Willow, with a little whimper.

“What did you know about her?”

“That she, uh, went to high school with us, and her, um, name is Anya,” said Willow.

“That’s it?” asked Jenny. She put her hands on her hips the way she used to when she got frustrated with her students.

“Yeah?” said Willow.

“Ok, you and I are going to drive back to town together. We have some stuff to talk about,” said Jenny.

“Ok, bye everybody,” Willow said, following Jenny out to her car and preparing herself for the impending lecture.


	14. Enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode summary: The scoobies look for information on the ascension. Angel pretends to lose his soul to trick the mayor and Faith.

“So no luck breaking into the mayor’s office?” Buffy asked, taking a drink of coke.

“No, by the time got through the encryptions, the files were all empty. He must have seen us coming,” said Willow.

“His security is tight. I’d love to know who his computer people are,” said Jenny from the kitchen. She brought out a plate of little sandwiches for them. Willow grabbed one and took a large bite, then pretended to wipe her mouth with a napkin and spat it back out. Jenny’s taste buds were a little different from a human’s. Buffy didn’t seem to notice and happily started shoving sandwiches in her mouth.

“I guess we’ll have to find out about the ascension with some good old fashioned research and burglary,” said Buffy.

“Wesley called a meeting at library later. We can catch him up then. And call you, Ms. Calendar, if anything exciting happens,” said Willow.

“Anything else on your mind, Buffy?” asked Jenny. Buffy had been a little distant through their snack and chat.

“It’s nothing really. It’s-it’s nothing,” stuttered Buffy.

Jenny and Willow said nothing, but both looked at her with raised eyebrows. Jenny took a long sip of blood from her mug.

“Alright, fine. It’s Faith. I went over to see Angel last night and Faith was there. They were acting sort of...intimate,” said Buffy.

“No way. I know what you’re thinking and no way,” said Willow.

“You’re right. Faith wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh, Faith would totally do that,” said Willow with a snort. “I meant there’s no way Angel would do that.”

“I have to agree. I may not be Angel’s number one advocate, but I don’t think he’s the unfaithful type. He has many other problems, but we don’t need to get into them today,” said Jenny.

“What did Angel say about all this?” asked Willow.

“You mean when I straightforwardly asked him what was going on?” asked Buffy, looking sheepish.

“You bailed?”

“I just couldn’t deal with it right then,” said Buffy.

“Talk to Angel. And you know, if he is cheating on you, let me be the first to volunteer to chop off his-” said Jenny, but Willow cut her off by exclaiming, “Ms. Calendar!” and looking scandalized.

Jenny just smiled. She meant what she said.

***

Jenny met up with Willow, Oz, Cordelia, and Wesley outside the Sunnydale Hall of Records. After their computer hacking job had turned out to be a bust, they were trying the “good old fashioned research and burglary” method, as Buffy put it. It probably wasn’t necessary for all five of them to be there, but Jenny wanted to join them, because none of the others were particularly stellar in a fight. Just in case they got caught, she wanted to be there to protect them.

“Where’s Giles when you need him to pick a lock?” said Cordelia when they got to the door.

Jenny kicked the door open, sending splinters of wood flying into the entryway. 

“Well, I suppose it’s not breaking and entering without a little breaking,” said Willow. 

Oz flicked on a flashlight and led the way back into the library of the old building. It was built in the same architectural style as the school library, but instead of occult books, it was full of local history record and references.

“Yes, well, I suppose we should split up, divide and conquer, as it were. Everyone grab a book,” said Wesley. He didn’t notice that everyone except Cordelia had already walked away to search through the shelves. Jenny grabbed a few promising looking volumes and went to sit at the main table.

“ Hey! I know a way to make investigating the mayor even more boring. Oh, on second thought, no, I don't,” said Cordelia after a few minutes of research. Jenny was inclined to agree. The city council minutes that she was reading were dry as hell. It made her long for the horribly gruesome demon research they usually did.

Oz paused in flipping pages of his book and showed something to Willow.

“Woah, guys, come check this out,” said Willow. They went over to look over her shoulder. The book had an old black and white photograph, dated 1907, showing the former mayor of Sunnydale. Who happened to look exactly like the current mayor of Sunnydale.

“He must be over a hundred years old,” said Wesley.

Jenny heard footsteps in the hallway, and she tensed, ready to fight whatever security had shown up. It turned out to be Xander, though, who came in sporting a fresh black eye.

“Xander, what happened?” asked Willow, running over to him.

“Well, Angel is back, in a really, really bad way,” he said.

“What? Angel’s lost his soul?” Jenny asked. She felt like someone had dumped icy water on her, sort of numb and in pain at the same time.

“And it gets so much worse, because guess who is Angel’s new bestest friend slash cuddle bunny? Faith, the psychotic slayer.”

“Alright, you all call Giles and tell him what’s happened. I’m going to go find Buffy and help her,” said Jenny.

“I’m coming with you,” said Xander.

“Me, too,” said Willow.

“I’ll drive,” said Oz. They left Wesley and Cordelia on phone duty and ran from the Hall of Records.

They went to Buffy’s house first, but found Joyce home alone. She was able to tell them that Buffy had left not long ago with Angel and Faith. The Crawford Mansion was next on the list. This time they were lucky. They could see the lights on in the mansion and see the shadows of figures inside. They didn’t think they had time for reconnaissance, so they burst through the door with no plan whatsoever.

“Buffy, he lost his soul again. And Faith’s bad, too,” yelled Xander.

Buffy looked a little confused to see them, but was forced to quickly recover. Faith grabbed Angel and threw him at Xander. Then she picked up a scalpel from a table of surgical tools and hurled it at Buffy. Buffy caught it pretty easily, so Faith grabbed a knife and lunged at Buffy. Angel stood after being knocked into Xander, but Jenny tackled him back to the ground. She scratched him across the face and then she and Xander began punching every part of him they could reach. Willow and Oz stood back from the chaos, unsure how to help.

“Jenny, Xander, stop,” said Buffy, pulling them both off of Angel.

“He’s not evil. It was a trick. It was just a trick to get information from the mayor and Faith,” Buffy explained.

Jenny looked around the room. Faith was gone and Buffy was a little bruised from their fight. Angel was brushing himself off and wiping at his bleeding nose.

“That’s a nasty trick,” said Jenny.

“I know.” Buffy gave Angel an odd look.

“Did you at least find anything useful?” she asked.

“The ascension is happening on Graduation Day,” said Buffy.

Jenny nodded. She hoped the information was worth it.


	15. Earshot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode Summary: Buffy fights some demons and ends up with their telepathic powers. She learns some secrets by listening to people's thoughts, including overhearing that someone at the school is planning a mass murder (it turns out to be the lunch lady). However, the telepathy starts driving her insane and she is only cured by eating the demon's heart.

Joyce answered the knock on the door to find a hooded figure holding a black umbrella. The figure pushed past Joyce into the house, desperate to get inside. She lowered her hood.

“Ms. Calendar, n-nice to see you. Can I, um, help you with something?” Joyce asked.

“I heard about Buffy,” said Jenny. She took off her jacket, which Joyce politely took and hung up.

“The mindreading. It doesn’t work on vampires, so I thought I could help out, give her a break from hearing thoughts. Rupert says it might get worse,” said Jenny. Joyce turned a deep crimson when Jenny mentioned Giles’ name, but Jenny pretended not to notice.

“Oh, yes, well, thank you. She has been...discovering some things that I wish she hadn’t. I’ll make some tea for you to take up to her,” said Joyce. She went and busied herself in the kitchen.

Jenny went upstairs. She found Buffy in her room, propped up by a mass of pillows in her bed. She looked a little dazed, as if she had a fever or something.

“How are you feeling?” Jenny asked, sitting in a chair by the bed.

“It’s not as fun a you’d think,” mumbled Buffy. “You find out things that you’d never, never,  _ never _ want to know.” Buffy looked intensely at her blanket, lost in the memory of something. She shook herself out of it and then looked up at Jenny, wide-eyed.

“My mom, Giles, candy,” Buffy sputtered out.

“Why don’t we-” Jenny started, searching for something to change the subject. She looked around the room for ideas.  “Want me to read to you? Or something?” she asked.

“Tell me a story. Something funny,” said Buffy.

“Ok, I can do that. How about the story of the great catfish hunt?”

Buffy nodded, shutting her eyes.

Jenny took a breath and dove into the story. Just when she had reached the part with the hawk, she looked over at Buffy, finding her fast asleep in the bed. She pulled the blanket up a little higher over Buffy and went downstairs to check on the tea.

***

“She’s asleep. She seems a little calmer,” said Jenny.

“Right, thank you again,” said Joyce. She fidgeted a little with her tea mug.

“So, about LA,” Joyce began, after a pause.

“You want to know why I didn’t contact you?” Jenny guessed.

“I just don’t know quite what to make of you. You’re younger than me, I think, unless you’re one of those super old vampires who still looks young.”

“No, I’m twenty nine,” said Jenny.

“But you’re older than Buffy. I just don’t know what your relationship is with her. I mean, I’m not accusing you of anything,” said Joyce.

Jenny found it very interesting that Joyce was having this conversation with her instead of Buffy’s actual - and much, much older - paramour, Angel.

“I was just her teacher at first. But then a bunch of bad things happened. We were both living with a lot of guilt. I wanted to protect her, I suppose, which seems a little ludicrous given who she is. But I also wanted her to know that none of the bad things were her fault. Me being turned into a vampire wasn’t her fault. So I suppose my relationship toward her is somewhere between maternal and big sisterly, if that eases your mind,” said Jenny. Her last words came out a little more biting than she intended.

Joyce didn’t respond, too busy looking into her mug.

“And I’m dating Rupert, who I would say is like a father figure to her. Anyway, cheating aside, Rupert and I are in a pretty solid place,” said Jenny. She turned to go back upstairs, chuckling a little at the shocked expression on Joyce’s face.

***

Buffy got worse that night. Her power was growing, so it wasn’t just the people in the same room that she could hear, but everyone passing by the house on the street. She tossed and turned and fruitlessly put on of her pillows over her ear, trying to block out the barrage of noise. Jenny could do nothing but sit beside her and try to hold her hand through it all.

***

Giles and Wesley came by the next morning, but they stayed downstairs with Joyce, hoping to give Buffy some relief. Her power was of the extent, however, that every thought within twenty meters forced its way into her head. There was a knock on the door, which Joyce answered, and Angel ran inside, steaming a little from the sun. He had a blanket over his head, which he threw off onto the floor.

“I got it,” he said, holding up a vial with a bright blue liquid inside. The cure, made from the heart of the telepathic demons.

Angel ran upstairs where Jenny was still sitting by Buffy’s bed. He pulled Buffy into a sitting position, but she deliriously tried to push him away. Jenny went over and held her arms, so Angel could pour the cure down her throat. She relaxed and they released her. Then she began to convulse on the bed.

“Giles!” Angel shouted.

The seizure didn’t last long, but it took several tense minutes for her to fully regain consciousness. She sat up in bed and rose to her feet with Angel’s help. 

“Can you still hear our thoughts?” Joyce asked.

“No. Did you find the killer?” she asked Giles. He shook his head. Buffy made them all leave the room, so she could get dressed and get ready. She still had a murderer to stop.

 


	16. Choices

Oz set up a rough ceramic vase on top of a pedestal. Behind him, Jenny was sitting at the library table, re-reading the Breath of Entropics spell to make sure they had all the details right. They were on spell duty, cooking up a way to destroy the Box of Gavrok, which everyone else was currently in the midst of stealing from city hall. Wesley had been nervous about leaving Oz and Xander alone to prepare the spell, so Jenny had agreed to stay behind and supervise everything. She just hoped they didn’t run into too much trouble with the mayor’s security at city hall.

“Hey, you got the goods?” Oz said, greeting Xander, who was returning from the magic shop. Xander held up a brown paper bag and handed it over to Jenny.

“Essence of toad, twice blessed sage, yep, you got it all,” said Jenny, looking through the bag. “Let’s get started, then.”

“Alright, toad me,” said Oz. She tossed the essence to him and he began crumbling it into the vase.

***

The Breath of Entropics potion was simmering nicely, ready to destroy the Box of Gavrok, when the others returned. They had the box with them. They didn’t have Willow.

“I don’t - I don’t know how this happened,” said Buffy.

“We thought she was still with you,” said Giles quietly.

Somehow, in the course of climbing down from the roof of city hall and going back to the car where Giles and Wesley were waiting, Willow had been taken. They could assume she was safe for now, as she was too valuable a hostage to kill, but they needed to act soon. Xander wanted to storm city hall in a full on assault. Jenny thought that a small team should sneak in to get her out. Buffy suggested that they trade the Box for Willow, but Wesley immediately disagreed. They devolved into shouting and arguing with each other. Oz calmly stood and went over to the pedestal. He threw it to the ground, shattering the vase and splattering the potion all over the floor. Oz turned to Buffy, making his position on the matter perfectly clear.

“Giles, call the mayor. Set up the trade,” said Buffy.

***

The trade went smoothly in the sense that they got Willow back safely. It did not go so smoothly, however, given that a cop was killed by a spider monster, Principal Snyder tried to arrest them all for dealing drugs, and the mayor now had the Box of Gavrok to prepare for his ascension. So they were pretty much back where they had started, except for the handful of papers that Willow had managed to steal from the Books of Ascension.

Jenny and Giles didn’t get home until three in the morning. Part of Jenny just wanted to flop into bed and go to sleep early, but there was something nagging at her.

“What the mayor said earlier,” she began. Giles stopped taking off his tie, knowing what she was going to say.

“About Buffy growing old and Angel always staying the same age,” she continued.

“I suppose we are in the same position,” he said.

“When I became a vampire, there were so many things that I wanted that became impossible. And there are so many things I miss about being human. Sunlight and sex are probably top two. But being with you and helping Buffy and the others, it’s the only thing that makes me feel remotely normal.” Jenny was aware how strange it was that fighting demons made her feel more human, but Giles didn’t question her. She took his hand in hers.

“So don’t leave me, just because you’ll grow old and I won’t. I wish I could grow old with you,” she finished.

He squeezed her hand.

“I’ll be with you as long as you’ll have me,” he said.


	17. The Prom

Giles couldn’t believe that he was agreeing with Wesley. They had the mayor’s ascension to deal with and all the children wanted to talk about was the bloody prom. Wesley tried to steer the conversation back from dresses to demons.

“So it's safe to say we should not waste time on trifling matters such as a school dance,” said Wesley.

“That's too bad. I bet you'd look way ‘double oh seven’ in a tux,” said Cordelia. Giles had to share a look of repulsion with Xander and Buffy.

“Except of course on the actual night of the event when I will be aiding Mr. Giles in his chaperoning duties,” said Wesley.

Giles sputtered a bit. Chaperone duties?

“You-? Excuse me-?” he said, very eloquently. Wesley barely looked up.

“Oh, feel free to bring Ms. Calendar. Actually, I’d imagine she would make quite the intimidating chaperone if she wanted to,” said Wesley.

“I’m not sure she should-” Giles began.

“Oh,” said Buffy with a little jump. “Speaking of Ms. Calendar, she gave me a message for you.” Buffy pulled out a little note and read, “Rupert, I’m going. Get over it.”

“When did she give you that?” Giles asked.

“Last night after slaying.”

“Do you often go by our house after slaying?”

“Yep. She makes me hot chocolate and we gossip. You were already asleep,” said Buffy. She put the note away.

Giles thought about arguing, but shrugged and gave it up. Any hope of talking about the mayor, or really talking about anything not prom related, was lost in a conversation of corsages and tuxedos.

***

Hellhounds were going to attack the prom, because of course nothing went smoothly when you lived on a hellmouth. They knew who was orchestrating it all, some student named Tucker, who Jenny was grateful to never have met, but not where he was. Buffy divied up the tasks for them all. Wesley and Cordelia were checking Tucker’s house. Willow and Oz were off to question Tucker’s friends. Xander was going to the magic shop on Main Street. And Jenny was visiting the hellhound food supplier, aka the meat packing plant. Buffy had wanted to go herself, but Jenny insisted. She knew the guys who worked there, seeing as she bought blood from them on a pretty weekly basis.

“Hey, Harv, how’re the kids?” she asked.

“Growing so fast, I’ll tell you. I feel like I’m going to turn around one day and my son will be taller than me. You finish that blood already? You were just here, what, two days ago?” said Harv.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you something. Has anyone been buying brains from you guys?” she asked.

“Yeah, weird kid. He comes in here and orders cow brains every few days. I don’t know if they’re like a delicacy, or what, maybe I don’t want to know. Odd kid.”

“Is there any chance I could get the address those brains are being sent to?”

Harv looked around to make sure his boss wasn’t looking. He took a sheet from his clipboard and gave it to her.

“Just don’t tell on me,” he said.

“Your secret’s safe with me,” she said, winking at him. She turned, letting Harv get back to work and saw Angel buying some blood from one of the guys. She walked over to him.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.”

“I hear you’re leaving,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

“It’s for the best.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But you know what’s a dick move? Dumping your girlfriend right before her high school prom. Buffy almost never gets to have a normal night. Do you know how much she was looking forward to it? Do you have any idea what it must be like to be a seventeen year old girl and go through all the bullshit she has to go through?”

Angel glanced over himself.

“No?” he said, then, “for what it’s worth, I do miss her. Is she, uh, still going to go?”

“She is. She still has a good group of friends to go with,” said Jenny.

“Good.”

“Well, I’ve got to go. Hellhound to deal with,” said Jenny.

***

Buffy and Giles waited as each team returned to the library, all with nothing to report.

“Zeroes all around then. Sorry, Buff,” said Xander.

“Not quite,” said Jenny, pushing open the library doors. She handed Buffy the paper with the address on it.

“Now. The prom starts in a little while. You guys go on. I'll catch up with you as soon as I put a lid on this jerk,” said Buffy. 

The others tried to argue with her and Jenny offered to go with her, but Buffy wasn’t hearing it. Her resolve face was even better than Willow’s. 

***

“Jenny, I’m really not sure it’s safe,” said Giles, for the third time. 

“Rupert, remind me what happened during the last school dance,” she said.

“I...I got knocked out and held hostage by a vampiric newlywed couple,” he said.

“Uh huh. I’m staying. Besides, my dress is too pretty to waste.” He had to agree with her there. She looked stunning. The dress was black and red, and may have once belonged to Drusilla. It was a bit more conservative than what the students were wearing, but extremely eye-catching.

Xander came up to say hello to them, with Anya the former vengeance demon holding his arm. She looked rather sweet for a monster who had tried commit a massacre at the Bronze.

“Ah, Ms. Calendar, so nice to see you back from witness protection,” Xander said loudly. He looked over his shoulder to make sure he was overheard.

“Thank you, it is great to be back from witness protection,” she practically yelled. Giles shook his head. He couldn’t take them anywhere.

Other than the hellhound plot, it started off as a pretty tame prom. Jenny caught two boys trying to pour vodka into the punch bowl. She confiscated their flasks and scared them nearly to tears, but otherwise it went smoothly. Xander was dancing with his demon date. Willow and Oz were chatting to some other students. Wesley was mooning over Cordelia and making an utter prat of himself. Giles checked the door again, but there was no sign of Buffy.

Giles and Jenny went to get some cheese cubes from the snack table. Well, he went for cheese cubes, she went with him. She really did look amazing. They ran into the health teacher, Ms. Tishler who nearly dropped her drink.

“Jenny, hi,” she said, her face turning red.

At first Giles thought she was surprised to see that Jenny was alive, but that didn’t seem to be it.

“Sarah. How are you?” Jenny also appeared to be blushing. That was odd.

“Well, I’d better-” Ms. Tishler walked away quickly.

Giles looked at Jenny, confused.

“It doesn’t count as cheating if you’re on band candy. I’m bisexual, by the way,” she said, getting the words out as fast as she could.

“Agreed and I am, as well,” he said. 

The first hour of the prom passed. Giles had to scold a young couple for dancing too promiscuously - grinding, he thought it was called. He looked to the door again. No Buffy. No, wait, there was Buffy. She came in wearing a long, light purple dress and her hair down. She smiled at him, hellhounds defeated and went to talk to her friends.

“She looks beautiful,” said Jenny, squeezing his hand.

The awards ceremony begin. Giles was uninterested in most of it, up until Jonathan got on the stage to present a new award to Buffy.

“Most of us never found the time to get to know you. But that doesn't mean we haven't noticed you. We don't talk about it much, but it's no secret Sunnydale High isn't really like other schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here,” said Jonathan. A few students yelled out examples and Giles was very happy that no one said, ‘undead teachers.’

Jonathan continued, “But whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you, at one time or another. We're proud to say that the class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history. And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks, and gives you, uh, this.” He held up a glittery little parasol. “It's from all of us, and it's got written here, ‘Buffy Summers. Class Protector.’” 

The room broke into applause and the crowd parted for Buffy to get her award. Giles glanced over at Jenny.

“Are you crying?” he asked her.

“Shut up,” she mumbled.

“You really are a big bad creature of the night, aren’t you?” he said, putting his arm around her shoulders.

Jenny stepped out for a moment to fix her makeup. Giles wasn’t entirely sure how she did so without mirrors, but he did see her taking a polaroid camera from her bag as she left the room. It gave him a chance to congratulate Buffy.

“I really had no idea that children, en masse, could be so gracious,” he said, taking a closer look at her magnificently tacky umbrella award.

“Every now and then, people surprise you,” she said.

“Every now and then,” he agreed as he spotted Angel across the room. He nodded for Buffy to turn around. She absentmindedly handed him her award and crossed the room as a slow song began. The crowd paired off and began to sway together - Willow and Oz, Xander and Anya, Buffy and Angel.

“Let’s dance, England,” said Jenny from behind him. 

Giles placed the umbrella on a table and led her out onto the dancefloor. He pulled her close, on hand around her waist and the other holding her own hand. She leaned in and lay her head on his shoulder. He was struck at that moment of how close he had come to losing her. He could almost invision how things could have gone the year before, could almost see himself standing alone at this dance with nothing but the memories of her. He pulled her closer. She was so solid in his arms.

“I love you, Jenny,” he whispered. 

She looked up at him and smiled.

“I love you, too.”


	18. Graduation Day, Pt. 1

Jenny wanted to just rip the arrow right out of Angel, but Giles was far more delicate. He cut off the arrowhead and handed it to Jenny and then carefully pulled the shaft out of Angel’s shoulder. Angel still hissed in pain, but he seemed okay. The wound looked small enough. Buffy quickly covered it in gauze to stop any bleeding.

“I’m alright. I heal pretty quickly,” said Angel.

They started discussing suspects - just Faith, really - but Jenny wasn’t listening. There was something odd about the arrowhead. She sniffed it and then quickly dropped it to the floor. 

“Angel, can you stand up?” she asked him.

He tried but swayed on his feet. He would have fallen, but Buffy caught him.

“Damn,” he muttered, blinking hard as if he couldn’t get his eyes to focus.

“What? What is it?” said Buffy, helping Angel back into a chair.

“I think it’s poison,” said Jenny. Giles picked up the dropped arrowhead and examined it.

“I’ll have to run some tests to see what it is,” said Jenny.

“Call Willow to help you,” said Buffy.

Jenny did so, and then went to chemistry lab to get started. She wasn’t at Willow’s level with either chemistry or witchcraft, but she knew a few spells that could help them. She could at least cross a few options off the list of poison suspects.

***

Xander and Oz came to help with the poison identification, though they sent Xander on a supply run to the magic shop soon after he arrived. Willow and Oz were pretty focused on the job, though Jenny caught them brushing their hands together and smiling at each other in a very knowing way. They were not as subtle as they thought they were. But they might all be dead soon, so whatever happiness they could find until then was a good thing.

“It definitely contains a neurotoxin and it looks like agrimony was used as well,” said Willow, looking at the results of her latest tests.

“Well that eliminates the strangler and lentum mortis,” said Jenny. She typed a few lines into the computer.

“Does it have any hemlock?” she asked Willow.

“Nope, coniine is absent,” said Willow.

“I think I have it,” said Jenny. Willow and Oz ran over to her computer.

“Interfectorem mortuorum, Latin for ‘killer of the dead.’ It attacks the nervous system of the undead, shutting down their motor control and eventually killing them. It isn’t effective if ingested, but must go directly into the bloodstream,” Jenny said, scanning through the information.

“What about a cure?” Willow asked.

“It doesn’t say anything. It might be time to hit the books and see what we can find out the Rupert way,” said Jenny.

***

Buffy came by to check on them, finding each with their nose buried in a book. The poison was a rare one and there were few cases of it being used and fewer still of it being cured. Oz was the only one to find something useful, but he looked grim about it, rather than excited.

“It says that the only cure for the poison is to drain the blood of a slayer,” he said, looking up at Buffy. She didn’t even flinch. She looked resolved.

“Good,” she said.

“Good?” asked Willow.

“No, it's perfect. Angel needs to drain a Slayer? I'll bring him one.”

“Buffy, if Angel drains Faith's blood, it'll kill her,” said Willow.

“Not if she's already dead,” said Buffy. 

The rest of them all looked at each other. Oz had killed people before in his werewolf form, but he didn’t remember it. Jenny did. She remembered each and every human life she had taken, from the morgue attendant when she had first risen to Gwendoline Post not that long ago. Even the bad or misguided people could weigh on your conscience like anchors. She didn’t want Buffy to experience that, but she also knew she couldn’t stop Buffy. So Jenny helped her track down Faith’s apartment on the computer and watched Buffy leave with interfering.

Xander came back from the magic shop, looking pretty upbeat, but he stopped when he saw their faces.

“What? What’d I miss?” he asked.


	19. Graduation Day, Pt. 2

Jenny and Giles got home late after their shift taking care of Angel. Buffy hadn’t returned from her hunt for Faith yet, but it was Willow and Oz’s turn to look after the dying vampire. Hopefully they would get a call soon with good news. Giles took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes.

“I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to seeing them graduate. After all Buffy has been through, to give her just one day to feel proud of herself and to do something so completely normal. I was so proud of her, of all of them. I still am, I suppose, but…” Giles trailed off. His shoulders dropped down like the effort of his normally perfect posture was just too much. Jenny went over and took his hand.

“Now Buffy is going to commit murder to save her love, a love who is leaving her, and a horrible demon is going to rise during her graduation,” he finished.

“She had to grow up fast, too fast probably. But Buffy is stronger than anyone I’ve ever known,” said Jenny.

“She’s never had to do anything like this before. You and I know what it’s like to cause the deaths of innocent people. Not that Faith is the most innocent, but it still takes a toll,” he said.

Jenny clung tighter to his arm. It definitely took a toll. 

The phone, interrupting their conversation. Jenny went over to answer it. It was perhaps the opposite good news they were hoping to hear.

“That was Angel. Buffy’s in the hospital,” she said, already grabbing her coat.

***

Angel was pacing back and forth in the hospital corridor when they found him. Jenny and Giles had picked up Xander, Willow, and Oz on their way, and all five of them began questioning Angel all at once. He did his best to explain that the doctor said Buffy would be fine.

“You seem pretty alright, too,” said Oz.

“Is Faith dead, then?” asked Jenny.

“No, Buffy wasn’t able to- Faith is in a coma from her fight with Buffy. But it was Buffy who cured me,” said Angel.

“You fed off her,” said Jenny, her words coming out in a slight hiss.

He looked ashamed, but didn’t deny it.

“Yes,” he said, with his head lowered.

“Did you turn her?” Jenny asked.

“No, no. She didn’t drink from me. She’s going to recover,” he said.

Jenny walked away from them. She could hear Xander saying something angrily to Angel, but she needed to get to Buffy. She went into the room to find Buffy lying unconscious on the hospital bed with a bandage on her neck. She might be the strongest person in the world, but she looked so small and so pale. Jenny took her wrist and felt Buffy’s pulse beating away under her skin. It was faster than normal, but steady. 

Giles came in behind Jenny and put his hand on her back. 

“She’s ok. Her heart is still going strong,” said Jenny, her voice shaking a little.

“Angel left. The sun is rising soon,” he said.

“So I should go, too,” she said. She bent over and kissed Buffy on the forehead before she went.

***

Buffy woke up later that morning and called a meeting in the library. Daytime or not this was important, so Jenny donned her wide-brimmed hat and leather jacket and grabbed her umbrella. The daylight felt far too hot against her skin, but she wasn’t actively burning. She could see in almost total darkness now that she was a vampire, but a bright sunlight irritated her eyes. Everything looked overexposed. It was too white, too hot. Luckily the school wasn’t far from their house.

It was such a relief to step into the cool and shadowed hallway of the school. The others were already there in the library, even Angel, when had blistered burn mark on one hand from his own walk to the school. Buffy still looked a little weak, but she was sitting upright, a determined expression on her face. Jenny gave her a quick hug and then sat down at the table to listen to Buffy explain her plan to defeat the mayor.

It was a crazy plan, absolutely nuts, but they had all known Buffy long enough to trust her crazy plans. And their only alternatives were Cordelia’s idea to attack the mayor with germs and Oz’s facetious hummus plot. Buffy handed out tasks for everyone and they began working through the smaller details of the plan.

***

Graduation Day arrived, and Jenny was stuck with Angel, waiting for the eclipse. They didn’t speak. She was angry at him for what he had done to Buffy, but they also didn’t have time for a big confrontation now. They needed to be ready and to fight together against the mayor. They couldn’t see the graduation itself from where they stood inside the school, but they could see the sky and that’s all they needed. A shadow passed over them and soon the whole sun was blocked by darkness. It was three in the afternoon, but looked like midnight.

“That’s our cue,” said Angel.

Jenny grabbed two bottles filled with gasoline and followed him out. Wesley, Percy, and some of her former students were waiting outside for them, carrying crosses, stakes, and knives. Angel nodded and led the way around the school so they came up behind the graduation. And what a graduation it was. They had seen pictures of the demon Olvikan before, but pictures did not do the enormous monster justice. They couldn’t focus on that, though. They needed to take out the vampires that were currently trying to flee. Xander’s team of archers had managed to drive them back, and now Angel and Jenny’s team just needed to finish off the ones left.

Jenny took out a lighter from her pocket and lit her Molotov cocktails, hurling them at the vampires. Three of them went up in the flames and the others ducked away.

“Now!” shouted Angel.

They surged forward toward the vampires, fell upon them in a flurry of stakes and punches. The vampires were outnumbered, but they were stronger than the students. They began to recover from the shock and fight back. One managed to sink his teeth into Percy’s arm, but Jenny grabbed him and slung him to the ground, driving her stake into his heart. Another vampire knocked the stake from her hand and elbowed her in the face. She fell and rolled to the side. She pulled a dagger from her boot and crouched to face the vampire. She should really get a sword sometime. The vampire punched at her, but she ducked out of the way and slashed his arm with her knife. He recoiled and she struck him across the throat. It wasn’t enough to decapitate him, but it would hurt like hell and put him out of action for awhile. She moved on.

The students from graduation turned to retreat from the mayor, running straight into the fight with the vampires. There were hundreds of them, each one carrying a weapon, and the vampires were quickly overwhelmed. Jenny caught sight of Willow’s red hair in the crowd and saw Xander punch and vampire in the face. Cordelia, dressed in a lovely but impractical blue dress, staked a vampire in the heart and watched him crumble to dust. Jenny felt so relieved to see them alive. She started pushing her way over to them, stabbing a vampire in the eye as she went, and nearly tripped over Wesley on the ground. She pulled him roughly to his feet. He was a little stepped on, but otherwise unharmed.

Then the school exploded. Vampire and students alike stopped their fighting, as huge waves of flames shot out of the school. Windows shatter and chunks of burning rumble were sent flying into the air. So many students wished they could burn down their high schools, but the Sunnydale kids actually got to see it happen.

The last remaining vampires began running away, knowing they were beaten. Jenny grabbed a sword out of the hand of one student and sliced the head off of one of the retreating vampires. Angel staked one that ran past him.

That was the end of it then. The students looked around, at a loss for what to do next. Several were lying dead or dying on the ground.

Jenny whistled to get their attention. 

“Anyone with first aid training come with me to help the seriously wounded. Everyone else head to the south lawn with all the minor injuries,” she said.

A group of students made their way over to her, lifeguards and babysitters mostly. Xander stayed back with them. His soldier memories included some basic field medicine. She had them spread out to check over the bodies, seeing who was dead and who needed help. Xander froze when he saw Larry, a boy Jenny recognized from the football team.

“Were you friends?” she asked Xander.

“Yeah, he was a good guy,” Xander whispered.

Larry was beyond help, so Jenny gently moved Xander away from the body. Xander shook himself and went back to checking the others.

***

The ambulances arrived and collected the injured. Jenny walked around, checking to make sure all her kids were ok. Willow and Oz were huddled together, Cordelia was crying a little over a friend of hers who had died, Xander was talking to Buffy, both looking a little numb.

“Nice work,” she said to Giles, when she found him. 

“Xander, Willow, and Oz did most of the explosive work. I just set off the detonator,” he said.

“It was very effective,” she said.

He looked around at all the activity of the EMTs. The blue and red lights of the emergency vehicles flashed over his face.

“I should go check on Wesley, see if he’s still whimpering,” he said. 

Jenny understood what he was feeling. The feeling of stillness after such a battle was almost unbearable. They all felt like they should be doing something, helping in some way, when really all they needed to do was get out of the way and let the professionals look after the injured.

Buffy came over to Jenny and hugged her. Neither of them said anything, but they just held on for a moment. Buffy leaned back and Jenny touched her hair. It was covered in soot and little grains of stone and brick. Buffy managed a weak little smile and then went off to find her friends. Jenny turned to get Giles. She needed to get home before the eclipse ended and she didn’t want to go alone. She looked back once at the burning wreckage of the school. It was the place she had met the love of her life, the place where she discovered that she was braver than she had thought, and the place where she had died all at once. She felt a twinge of something, some emotion she couldn’t identify, but she pushed it aside. 

They had won. They could rest for now.


End file.
